Number plate theft is on the rise in Victoria, with 19,758 number plates stolen over the 12-month period ending March 2024, a 26 per cent increase on the 15,623 stolen in the previous year, according to the latest data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency.
CEO of Neighbourhood Watch Victoria Bambi Gordon says that while number plate theft seems like a low-level crime, the reality is it can have very serious ramifications for motorists – including the potential involvement in identity theft and criminal activities.
In most cases, thieves remove number plates and transfer them to their own vehicle or a stolen vehicle. Thieves also go online and duplicate registration details - that unique combination of letters and numbers on your vehicle's number plates - if they're visible in a photo on a car sales website, for example, or social media.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to make your number plates more difficult to steal – both in person and online.
How to avoid number plate theft | RACV
Most people hide personal possessions from view and lock their cars because they are aware of the possibility of burglars breaking into their vehicles. But Gordon says one of the most common items stolen from a car is number plates. “Neighbourhood Watch has been educating people about the need to secure their number plates for nearly 40 years," she says.
Offenders use stolen number plates on cars to help them carry out other crimes without being traced and identified. The Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) reports that more than 50 per cent of fuel theft and various other crimes, involve stolen number plates. Crimes include:
Ordinarily, CCTV cameras, video recognition technology (often found on toll roads) and concerned bystanders will record an offender’s number plate to report to the police. If stolen number plates are used, fees and fines will be sent to the registered owner instead of the offender, often weeks in arrears of the offence. It also means that police will also have a much harder time identifying the perpetrator involved in more serious crimes like burglaries.
Northwest Metro Victoria is a hot spot for number plate theft.
The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) reported 19,758 number plate thefts across Victoria in the year ending March 2024: an increase of 4,135 offences compared to the year ending March 2023.
The top three areas affected were Casey and Greater Dandenong in the Southern Metro Victoria region, and Hume in the Northwest Metro Victoria region.
Number plate theft is not limited to physical removal. Number plates can also be virtually stolen by thieves copying your registration details from an online photo. You may have posted the photo to a car sales website or social media. Thieves then print it on special laminated paper to attach over their own number plates on a similar car.
Car owners may be alerted to the theft when they get an unexpected toll road invoices, which can be distressing.
Blur or remove images of your number plates when posting your car online for sale. Image: Getty
If you take the time to secure your number plates, thieves are likely to pass over your car for an easier target.
To protect your car from number plate theft, install anti-theft screws (also called safe plate screws, one-way screws or security screws) that can’t be easily removed. Normal number plate screws have heads that are compatible with either a bladed or a Phillips head screwdriver and are very easy to remove. Anti-theft screws, on the other hand, can be installed with a bladed screwdriver but need a special tool to be removed. Because thieves need to get your number plate off before they are noticed and reported by passers-by, this tactic makes stealing your number plate an unattractive option.
Park your car in a locked garage where possible to protect yourself from number plate theft. If you don’t have a garage at home, park off the street in your driveway or carport so that the car is closer to your house (and therefore a riskier target to thieves).
To protect your number plates online, ensure that you blur your number plates on any images you post to auto marketplaces when selling your car, or social media. You can do this with a free photo editor app or website.
You can get anti-theft screw for free at a Neighbourhood Watch Safe Plates event.
