Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People who think they'll find your address and steal your identity. What do you do when you drive around showing everyone on the road your license plate?!?!? Do you just take them off while driving and while parked?
A simple internet search and I can find out far too much of info about you from your license plate. Pay a small fee - under $25 - and I can easily find even more info about you. Easy to steal your identity.
A license plate doesn't have anything to do with a CARFAX report. Take them with a grain of salt. They are far from accurate and rarely 100% factual.
My plates are personalized and as such, do stand out just a little to the general world and probably do say something about me........if people could figure out them out which in the 16 years I've had them, only one person has said to my face what they actually mean.
How much one stands out in the world, automotively, can be an interesting prospect. I've been tempted to get one car painted Daktari style but always nix the idea after dreaming. Why? A car painted like that, even in the state of Texas, and I couldn't go anywhere where I didn't want privacy or secrecy. I'd be like a B-36 bomber, known miles before I arrive.
Similar thing with license plates (but taken down several notches) for when I posted pictures of my F-250 on one forum, I did it with the plates covered and at such an angle to give a little background information as possible. There were people on that forum who talked with loads of venom for me and I certainly did not want them finding me in reality.
Get in the practice of protecting one's self for while in many a time, it may just be extra, there may be that one time when it really pays off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IShootNikon
But you kind of have to have a reason to steal the identity of someone selling their used 2004 Honda Accord on Craigslist. Why go through all that trouble. Walk down a street (or look out your window) and you'll have thousands of license plates in full view to pick from.
If someone is that nefarious they wouldn't go through all the trouble of looking for car ads on craigslist just to get license plate numbers.
If you are out to steal the identity, maybe, but what if you are searching for someone because they slighted you on the Net or to settle an old grudge?
There's that piece of information, they drove a 2004 Honda Accord, so you put pieces of that into your keyword search. That's what I do when I am looking for someone on the Net; I put in what I know about their life and see what comes up.
As I read the various posts here, I am seeing a world of those who do not know the concept of searching and all its wonderful, fascinating approaches. Let's take that Honda Accord. So they had a Honda Accord, ONCE, so what? Well, in a way, that is like searching for a submarine where if one has a location they were at a day ago, they now have a smaller patch to look in instead of the entire ocean. It can be like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_search_theory where you statistically figure quadrants where something is, search the one with the highest probability first and if it isn't there, redo your statistics to figure the next probabilities. It can be like low frequency radar tracking which gives one LOT of fuzzy logic answers......that even a 90s gaming computer could figure out.
To me, this world is fascinating and I have done one major project on ways of better tactical searching.
Don't be so focused that a spook is only looking for one thing; their motivation may be quite different from yours and for what you consider too much trouble may be worth the cost to them.
They may even see it as a kind of fun.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 05-17-2017 at 04:41 PM..
DPPA has holes big enough to drive a truck through
My license plates are personal and aren't going with the car, so I would obscure them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAAN
Unless you know someone at the DMV or someone to has access to some sort of tag database, no one can take your car tag and find information about you, unless they are law enforcement
This varies by state, for example, California requires the INF-70D for most plate lookups by non-LEO, but never prosecutes anybody for lying on the form. Federal law also has restrictions on the release of DMV info, but there are plenty of loopholes in the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) (18 U.S.C.A. 2721).
And to see the future of the panopticon, check out TLOxp by TransUnion.
My plates are personalized and as such, do stand out just a little to the general world and probably do say something about me........if people could figure out them out which in the 16 years I've had them, only one person has said to my face what they actually mean.
How much one stands out in the world, automotively, can be an interesting prospect. I've been tempted to get one car painted Daktari style but always nix the idea after dreaming. Why? A car painted like that, even in the state of Texas, and I couldn't go anywhere where I didn't want privacy or secrecy. I'd be like a B-36 bomber, known miles before I arrive.
Similar thing with license plates (but taken down several notches) for when I posted pictures of my F-250 on one forum, I did it with the plates covered and at such an angle to give a little background information as possible. There were people on that forum who talked with loads of venom for me and I certainly did not want them finding me in reality.
Get in the practice of protecting one's self for while in many a time, it may just be extra, there may be that one time when it really pays off.
If you are out to steal the identity, maybe, but what if you are searching for someone because they slighted you on the Net or to settle an old grudge?
There's that piece of information, they drove a 2004 Honda Accord, so you put pieces of that into your keyword search. That's what I do when I am looking for someone on the Net; I put in what I know about their life and see what comes up.
As I read the various posts here, I am seeing a world of those who do not know the concept of searching and all its wonderful, fascinating approaches. Let's take that Honda Accord. So they had a Honda Accord, ONCE, so what? Well, in a way, that is like searching for a submarine where if one has a location they were at a day ago, they now have a smaller patch to look in instead of the entire ocean. It can be like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_search_theory where you statistically figure quadrants where something is, search the one with the highest probability first and if it isn't there, redo your statistics to figure the next probabilities. It can be like low frequency radar tracking which gives one LOT of fuzzy logic answers......that even a 90s gaming computer could figure out.
To me, this world is fascinating and I have done one major project on ways of better tactical searching.
Don't be so focused that a spook is only looking for one thing; their motivation may be quite different from yours and for what you consider too much trouble may be worth the cost to them.
They may even see it as a kind of fun.
Of course one that is selling a car knows that they will have to exchange legal and correct information (name, address) to switch the title over so if one wants to remain anonymous and on the down low selling a car they legally own probably isn't smart in the first place. Most people who don't have anything to hide or don't have people looking for them will be ok in displaying their license plate
People are idiots. They do things because they can. No one ever said there was logic or reason behind motives. Some people are just bored living in their parents' basement eating Cheetos and have these amazing brainstorms of dumb crap they can do.
Walk down the street? You mean like go outside? Ugh. That means getting off the couch and out of the basement. Who has that kind of time and energy? LOL
If these nfarious people are getting license plates off Craigslist because they won't get off the couch, what makes you think they would get off the couch to steal a car?
When you are walking down the street and see a license plate, there is NOTHING that can potentially identify who the owner is except for whatever "stuff"( stickers, workplace parking tags, or something like that) is on the vehicle. There may be a way to trace the plate, but I think you need some kind of spacial reason to do so. (Edit: I now stand corrected: http://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehist...-license-plate)
When some people place an ad on the internet, many also post some minimum contact information for you to get in touch with the seller. That may include phone or email address. Most people can't figure out who you are with this information, while some small percentage of people may be able to associate car to person, and therefor address. It is not that hard to be a detective.
Even before the internet, I lived on a street when one night a drunk crashed at high speed into a car, which hit another car, and so on... it ended up being 2 cars totaled and two others highly damaged. The drunk then drove away. A few of us got together and using only a piece of cast off plastic were able to determine that make, model, year, and color of the car. Using the antifreeze trail, the direction he came from, and went to we were able to get the general location of where the car went. With further investigation, asking questions, we were able to give the Philadelphia police (who didn't seem interested in investigating themselves) the name, car, and location of the person who caused the crash.
It wasn't hard. Today with the internet I think it is probably easier, but even if it isn't. Who does and who doesn't have the talent to research and find information about you? I don't know. I don't care to spin the bottle and find out who can and can't, why take the chance when all you have to do is go into paint and remove the plate?
Another example is women on OLD, too many of them leave too much information about themselves in text and/or pictures. Sometimes when chatting with some of them, I will mention this. One once challenged me to see what I could find out about her. I found her name, address, and phone. I found a picture of her with her kids. I found that she was divorced or separated. She was shocked.
Even if you are not paranoid about the information you leave laying around, why give anyone information they don't need.
When some people place an ad on the internet, many also post some minimum contact information for you to get in touch with the seller. That may include phone or email address. Most people can't figure out who you are with this information, while some small percentage of people may be able to associate car to person, and therefor address. It is not that hard to be a detective.
The same kind of people that would want to, and be able to, get an address off a license plate can get it easier from the phone number in the ad. So why cover the plate and leave the phone number? It's just silly.
And that's just the crux of it. Covering the plate is just silly and completely meaningless to someone who wants to find your address. And to everyone else, it's just pointless.
As to Tamara's contention about people on forums being pissed at her and want to come to her house by following plate numbers, I've been on forums since '96 and have pissed off plenty of people, and have posted pictures of my plates AND house and never once been contacted IRL by those people. And I have custom plates, too.
Vice versa, I've sold project cars on CL and I'm not gonna load it up on a trailer and take it somewhere just to have them flake out on me and not show, or show up only to start complaining that it's not a completed, new car. Sorry, I'm not wasting my time like that. If they flake on me when I'm home and they don't show, well, I haven't wasted much if any of my time or gas.
I've never had a problem with people coming to my house to buy cars. And if I really want to get rid of something, I just put it in the free section of CL and say first come first served. No matter what it is, it goes away within the hour.
it wasn't a issue for us, as the car was very functional. DH was at work most of the times people wanted to look at it, so no inconvenience there either. They also had parking lot cameras, and anyone coming to look at the car would have to check in with the receptionist, so she could call DH and let him know they were there. So anyone who wasn't serious or have ulterior motives would have been deterred.
We learned we would never do it again, though. We didn't really make that much more money off of it, and dealing with the endless moronic questions and emails wasn't worth it.
There is no bigger scam potential than to buy a car from a guy who meets you in a parking lot somewhere and refuses to allow you to know anything about him or the way he lives. But that misguided advice proliferates on the Internet. And it is utterly foolish.
When looking for a quality used car in the private party marketplace, the one and only chance you have for success is to first find and positively identify a quality owner/seller. Most who insist on the remote location meet-ups are going to be nearer the opposite end of that scale.
Look, carjackings and even homicides have happened to people selling cars. Is it common? No, but I certainly don't fault someone for wanting to meet in a shopping center parking lot or even better, a police station parking lot.
People don't want someone knowing where their family is, where they live, etc, even thought it ultimately will become available to complete the transaction. I get it, you don't necessarily want them to see your $1,000 bike in the garage, or know which house is yours if they find something wrong with the car. Similarly, buyers carrying cash don't want to meet on "unsafe" ground either and risk getting robbed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Do you just take them off while driving and while parked?
DPPA has holes big enough to drive a truck through
