License plate theft scam: “There’s a real hole in the racket”

Changer sa plaque d’immatriculation sans présenter de papiers est possible sur internet. Illustration MAXPPP – Guillaume BONNEFONT

Luc Geismar est député de Loire-Atlantique. Il veut s’attaquer à l’arnaque à la "doublette", un fléau qui touche de plus en plus d’automobilistes.

His bill has just been tabled. It is still only at the draft stage and will have to be amended, but Luc Geismar did not want to wait any longer to raise awareness on this subject which is close to his heart. This MoDem deputy from Loire-Atlantique is tackling, alongside Pierre Chasseray, the president of the 40 million motorists association, the doublet scam, in other words , license plate theft. "We share the same observation: there is a hole in the racket".

"While fewer than 13 600 cases were reported by law enforcement in 2010, 22 008 crimes of "doublets" were recorded by the Ministry of the Interior in 2022, an increase of 62 %", writes the MP in the exposition of the motivations of his proposal.

Alarming figures, which continue to increase as the scam is so simple for the criminals and as it makes the lives of the victims complicated. "In the worst cases, some victims receive hundreds of infraction tickets. I find this completely incongruous. Victims may even be sued and may have to incur legal fees.

Make the presentation of documents compulsory

How does the MP intend to limit the proliferation of this scam that is so easy to implement for offenders, who currently face a fine of up to 30,000? nbsp;euros and a prison sentence of a maximum duration of 7 years ? By making it compulsory to present identity documents when creating plates.

His bill, which aims to insert an article into the Highway Code, therefore stipulates that "any person wishing to acquire a vehicle registration plate in a store or on a merchant website is required to present to the merchant an identity document and the vehicle registration certificate.

Currently, most plate manufacturers require a registration document. However, after a few attempts on the internet, we easily found a site through which to order plates without having to provide an identity document or registration.

If Luc Geismar wanted to move quickly, he does not necessarily expect his proposal to go through the legislative vehicle, but has launched a call for co-signature. This bill aims "also to protect society because a person who has a false plate thinks he has everything allowed", reminds the deputy.

Luc Geismar, MoDem deputy for the 5th constituency of Loire-Atlantique. DR

Dematerialization risks accentuating the phenomenon

If Luc Geismar wanted to move quickly, he does not necessarily expect his proposal to go through the legislative process, but has launched a call for co-signature. This bill aims "also to protect society because a person who has a false plate thinks he has everything allowed", recalls the deputy.

According to him, the recent implementation of the dematerialization of the insurance sticker reduces administrative procedures for drivers, but "it also carries the risks once again seeing an increase in the number of plate thefts", since from now on, to know if a vehicle is in order, the forces of the’ order refer to the "Insured Vehicle File (FVA) from the number of the registration plate carried by the vehicle".

According to the figures put forward by the MP, "professionals in the field now even estimate that between 400 000 and one million French people would be victims each year of these actions.

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