License plates stolen from a car: what to do, where to go, procedure, necessary documents and rules for contacting the traffic police

• July 27, 2018
• Automobile law
• Oksana Sergeeva

Nowadays, car number plate theft is a common occurrence that anyone can encounter. And a completely logical question arises: what to do if license plates are stolen from a car? The goals of criminals are very different: ordinary hooliganism, fraud for the purpose of ransom. The situation is quite unpleasant, but you should not panic, you must act in accordance with official instructions in such cases and not follow the lead of ill-wishers.

Reasons for stealing license plates

The car owner cannot be sure of the complete safety of his vehicle. The main reasons for number theft:

1. Hooliganism. In this case, there is no specific purpose, it is simply done for fun or as a bet; the thief may even be from your yard. Some people steal license plates with nice numbers for resale or for collection.
2. Use in criminal fraud. Criminals often use numbers that are not theirs to confuse the police and put them on the wrong track if they commit a crime (robbery, assault, transportation of stolen cars, etc.).
3. To receive ransom. After the theft, the thief leaves a note on the windshield of the car or contacts the owner in another way and demands money. Previously, in case of loss of the license plate, the car owner was obliged to undergo re-registration; many chose the option of paying the fraudster. These days, such thefts are becoming less and less common. It is best to ignore the thief and restore the numbers; you should not follow the criminal’s lead, as you will not only not return what was stolen, but you will also lose money.

Nuances

Registering new numbers after theft is not difficult, you just need to allocate a little time and patience for this procedure. You should not follow the lead of scammers and pay them a ransom, encouraging this hooligan activity. In practice, even after transferring the required money to the thieves, the car owner does not always get his license plates back. Therefore, the surest way out of the situation is to report the theft to the police and re-register the vehicle, thus protecting yourself from new problems. It doesn’t matter that the criminals in this case remain unpunished - if all car owners take such measures, there will be no point for criminals to steal.

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Recovery procedure

Number plates were stolen from a car, what should I do to restore them? After the owner contacts the police, a certificate is issued, but, unfortunately, even with it, the car cannot be used. Remember that if you want to get the result of the investigation, you will have to wait for the criminal case to be opened and its further consideration. If you have removed the license plates from your car, you can restore them in two ways.

First, order a duplicate and install it. Secondly, complete re-registration in accordance with the law and all legal norms through government services; after this entire procedure, the person is issued a new license plate for the car. You can use the car for some time if only the rear plate is missing, but you should not delay this, otherwise the owner will face a fine. If the front number is lost, it is worth replacing it with the back one.

Duplicate

Duplicates are not issued by government services. But there are private companies that, for a certain amount of money (about 2,000 rubles), after providing a registration certificate, make a duplicate of the lost number.

In case of loss of the number, mandatory re-registration is not required, and the use of a duplicate does not exceed the boundaries of the law. But there is one drawback to this method: if you are not sure whether the number was stolen or it was simply lost, if you replace it with a duplicate, you may have problems with the police for criminal fraud that you did not commit. A fraudster can use a stolen number, and in the end the person assigned to him (i.e. the victim) will be responsible. To prevent such a situation from arising, you can use the second method, it is more reliable. But replacing with a duplicate has its advantages: high speed of service (from 20 minutes to an hour), low cost, and a minimum package of necessary documents.

To sell a duplicate you will need: a passport or driver's license, notification and registration certificate.

We come to an agreement with the scammer

We call or write SMS to the phone left under the wiper. We are told the ransom amount and the Qiwi wallet. An ordinary number is valued at 2,500, a beautiful one – at 10,000 rubles.

No amount of persuasion, entreaties, attacks, or curses against the thief will help. This is a criminal business. The issue can only be resolved with money.

We look for the nearest terminal, transfer the fee, and in response we receive the coordinates of the place where the number is hidden.

Return time : up to two hours.

Minuses:

• Firstly, by transferring money you have just supported the crime and confirmed its profitability. Now in your area the numbers will be rolled up more often. You too. If you paid the first time, that means you’ll pay the second time too...
• Secondly, you will feel like a loser for at least a year. Bro, you don't even have to tell anyone about the incident. But in your heart, the thought that you were scammed by a migrant worker or a local drug addict who didn’t have enough for a dose will be more pressing than a multi-ton press.
• Thirdly, after transferring money, the numbers are not always found. The district police officer told how the scammers tricked one girl into three transactions until they realized that she had run out of money, and only then did they tell her the correct amount.

Re-registration

If license plates are stolen from a car, re-registration will protect the owner from liability for unlawful actions that were not committed by him during the theft.

Algorithm of actions for re-registration:

1. Write a missing persons report to law enforcement agencies. It states the estimated time and location of the theft, as well as the time of discovery and any details you can remember that you believe are relevant. After this procedure, the numbers are put on the wanted list, and their further use is impossible.
2. To obtain new license plates, you need to pay a state fee, it is equal to 2500 rubles: 2000 for issuing a registration plate and 500 for a certificate.
3. Collect the package of necessary documents and contact the traffic police.

Required documents:

• Identity document – ​​Russian passport.
• Vehicle registration certificate.
• Car passport.
• Document confirming payment of state duty.
• If only one sign is missing, the second one should be provided.
• Application requesting changes. If you indicate the reason - the number was lost under “unexplained circumstances”, re-registration will be faster than if you indicate theft in the column.
• Car owner's civil liability insurance policy.
• A power of attorney or other document proving the applicant’s right to represent the interests of the owner.

Have your license plates been stolen from your car in Belarus or Ukraine?

It may be a very real situation when car license plates may be stolen while on vacation in Belarus or Ukraine. If this suddenly happens, then it is much more difficult to obtain new signs than for the driver to be on the territory of his state.

The surest and best option would be to call your friends or relatives and issue a power of attorney for the car. Then, using a power of attorney, they will be able to make duplicate numbers or re-register them. As a result, after a friend receives new signs on their car, they can be sent to the real owner. This way there will be virtually no problems, but the only drawback is that this procedure can take a lot of time.

If you stole only the numbers in the front or only in the back, you can try to attach them to the front and get to your city. The likelihood that no one will stop you is quite high. Even if someone asks, you just need to explain the situation, most likely the police will allow you to go to your place of residence, where a complete replacement can be made.

Attaching license plates

If license plates have been removed from a car, what should you do? As additional protection, a vandal-proof frame is perfect, which can be found in almost every car store at a price of up to 2,500 rubles. The frame includes two parts - the base and the top panel. The base is attached in 4 places, and not in two places as usual. This frame is very effective for protection; the fastening uses special hidden bolts that can be opened using a special key; they are not easy to tear off by force or open. In addition, the frame will not only be an obstacle for thieves, but also an obstacle to getting lost on bad roads. The driver will have to tighten the bolts occasionally, but not more than once every six months.

How to protect numbers

Forewarned is forearmed. Some methods will help prevent the onset of an unpleasant situation; thieves only remove numbers that are poorly secured; this will not attract the attention of passers-by, but the alarm can scare away thieves. Spend about 3,000 rubles and install the sensors in the license plate; they connect to the car alarm.

You can strengthen the alarm system using anti-vandal frames. Their cost is in the range of 1000-10000 rubles. Countersunk bolts or special construction covers the perimeter. If the thieves have the keys to the fasteners. Removing it won't be a problem, but it will take some time. and the alarm system will warn the owner.

Secure the signs from inside the car using regular nuts and bolts. The cost will not exceed 100 rubles, and you can purchase the material at any furniture or construction store. The result will please you. It is difficult to pull out such a fastening. The method is not suitable for machines that are under warranty.

Attention! Do not forget to treat holes in metal structures with an anti-corrosion compound.

Creating even minor difficulties in removing the license plate can save you from trouble, since it is easier to find a car with poorly attached signs than to waste time and risk attracting attention to remove the reinforced plate. Combine different methods of protection and do not cooperate with scammers.

How to prevent repeat theft

The question arises, after the attackers have removed the license plates from the car: what to do to prevent the theft again? There are several measures that can help protect your numbers from being stolen again. In order to avoid loss, you must follow some recommendations:

• Installation of special anti-vandal devices, the range of which is huge to choose from, for example, protective frames, which will be difficult to remove even for an experienced attacker.
• Correct parking. Park the car in a garage or in a well-lit area, near shopping centers, where everything is recorded on camera. Then the likelihood of kidnapping is much lower.
• A good alarm system will protect your car not only from theft of license plates, but also from burglary and theft.
• If license plates have been stolen from a car, what should you do? Of course, use bolts and screws for fastening; the more non-standard the head is, the more difficult it will be for an attacker to remove the license plate from the car.

Punishment for a thief

Number plates were stolen from a car - what to do? Do I need to contact the police, and what will happen to the thief? In most cases, the police do not solve such cases. Even if you suspect someone or are contacted for a ransom, with a well-thought-out operation the criminal leaves no clues behind.

Even if the fraudster is caught, it will not be possible to punish him significantly, since the cost of the sign is very small (less than 1000 rubles). If the goal was hooliganism or ransom, the thief will have to pay a fine (2-5 thousand rubles), or he will be registered. If stolen signs are installed on another car, in which some kind of crime is then committed, the offender will face a fine of 200,000 rubles and imprisonment for up to 4 years. Other penalties may also be imposed, such as compulsory work after study or work, or deduction of some part of the salary at the official place of employment.

What is a crime

Until 2014, there was no provision on punishment for theft of car license plates. It was possible to bring to justice only those caught extorting money from car owners, but in practice such acts remained unpunished. To protect vehicle owners from illegal actions of other persons, a new article 325.1 has appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Criminal sanctions will be imposed according to the following rules:

1. the unlawful taking of a vehicle license plate is recognized as a crime (the seizure of counterfeit or previously stolen license plates by an authorized person of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not a violation);
2. criminal punishment will follow only if the theft was committed with mercenary motives or to commit grave or especially grave crimes;
3. Only individuals whose actions have been proven to have intent and selfish interest are held accountable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
4. The seizure of numbers committed by an organized group is included in a separate section.

A state number is issued to the owner of a car or other vehicle after registration and registration with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. The obligation to equip a car with license plates is enshrined in the law, and violation of this rule entails administrative liability. Until the criminal makes a demand for payment of a reward, it is difficult to say that the theft occurred and not the loss of the number during use. However, in practice, it is impossible to lose both numbers at once, so this fact can be regarded as theft.

The fact of license plate theft is detected by the car owner. It should be taken into account that if a plate with a number is lost or damaged, it can be restored in 1 day, although the cost of replacement will be up to 2,500 rubles. Previously, this procedure took much longer, which was used by criminals who offered to return the stolen number for a reward.

It is the selfish motive that is the main qualifying feature under Art. 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If a citizen has stolen the number, but does not plan to return it for a fee, sell it to third parties or use it to commit other crimes, his actions can only be interpreted as causing property damage by theft. Since the amount of damage is clearly insignificant, the punishment will be imposed according to the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The amount of remuneration required for returning the number does not affect the procedure for bringing to justice under Art. 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Even if you agreed to pay the money and transferred it using the criminal’s details, you can file a claim that your number was stolen. In this case, you can count on compensation for damage caused by illegal actions.

Search for stolen numbers

Fraudsters have stolen license plates from a car - what should you do if, after the theft, they call or leave a note to the car owner, demanding a certain amount of money in exchange for a license plate? Of course, there is no guarantee that the number will be returned after payment. The police, thanks to statistical data and interviews with victims, have come up with some recommendations that may help in the search:

1. In most cases, the license plate is located close to the car, within a radius of 300 m, since an ill-wisher does not have the opportunity to openly walk down the street with a stolen license plate. Typically, a potential location is located in a parking lot or in a yard; going beyond them most often makes no sense.
2. The license plate can be folded in half or rolled into a tube; usually criminals hide it in trash cans or bushes, pipes, and various holes between curbs and garages. In winter, it is more difficult to find a room due to the snow, but at this time of year you can see traces of a thief.
3. You should figure out which escape route is most convenient for the fraudster; most likely, the loss will be hidden along the way.
4. You can involve relatives, neighbors or friends in the search, then the chance of finding the stolen property will be higher.

Why are numbers stolen?

Why do criminals actually need license plates? Everything is very clear here, the hooligans are organizing this event solely for their own benefit.

There are several key motives:

• 
  License plates are often used on vehicles that have not cleared customs. Usually they are installed on vehicles that are similar in characteristics: by make, by body, by color, by model. Such a careful selection of criteria is done so that it is possible to safely use a fake registration certificate.

• In addition, as in the first option, the signs help the kidnappers to provide themselves with a clean, guaranteed alibi for more serious and serious crimes. Which ones, you can guess for yourself.
• There is also a group of people who are obsessed with collecting interesting numbers. Collectors mainly turn their attention to rare, unique pieces for themselves, for further resale or for exchange, since truly rare numbers are worth a lot of money on the black market.
• Petty thieves and extortionists steal numbers and then declare their conditions. They usually leave a note under the windshield wipers with ransom instructions. Most often, this amount is 2-3 times less than that required by the traffic police. Many people are led on a whim, because the registration process is difficult and requires more time and money.
• It is possible that in this way ill-wishers are taking revenge on you for grievances in the past. This is, of course, the most unlikely option of all, but it does happen.

What to do if foreign license plates are stolen

Are you a foreign citizen and your car license plates were stolen? What to do in this case? Don't panic and don't succumb to provocation. This is often done by scammers in order to prevent the victim from leaving Russia and thereby force them to pay a certain amount in exchange for the return of the stolen goods. Like citizens of the Russian Federation, you should contact law enforcement agencies for help with an application and obtain a duplicate. Upon arrival home, you should not delay completely replacing your license plates, because yours could be sold to partners of scammers in your country and used to commit crimes.

Categories of cars most often subject to such crimes

No car is immune from attacks by criminals on its registration numbers. The following vehicles are in the maximum risk group:

• Cars with “nice” license plates. The attackers are counting on the owner of a car with such signs to agree to pay the ransom.
• Cars arriving from abroad or another region of the Russian Federation.

In the latter case, being not on his territory, the owner of the vehicle agrees to pay the amount requested by the attackers in order to return it home without any problems.