It is nearly impossible to tell the difference between real New York state license plates and a proliferation of vanity plates being sold online.
It is illegal to sell them or mount them on your car.
However, reporter Jennifer McLogan was recently able to order a CBS-NEWS plate from Amazon for $22.
Fake plates a “big problem” in New York, law enforcement says
“Fake plates, vanity plates like these that you ordered online, these vanity plates are being put on cars all over,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said. “And it’s becoming a big problem for us in law enforcement. The numbers have been increasing every quarter.”
Data shows nearly 9,000 in the past year and a collaborative effort will soon reveal how many of the fakes were sold as vanity or decorative plates.
“We speak as one. Suffolk County, New York City, we are in lock step with them,” Ryder said of the state-wide trend.
“These vanity plates are for those who want to avoid detection, committing a crime, or want to avoid tolls, and we are going to crack down on it,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
MTA police and the NYPD are also watching, counting numbers, and actively pulling over drivers with fake plates, which cops say are used to avoid congestion pricing and tolls.
Several sweeps were recently captured on video by CBS News New York.
“They are absolutely illegal to put on your vehicle,” New York State Police Capt. Vince Augeri said.
Augeri said he has targeted patrols now aimed at fake plate drivers.
“That is fraud. They will be arrested. Their vehicle will be impounded,” Augeri said.
“We are going to stop your car, we are going to take that plate from you, we’ll seize that plate, and we will impound your car,” Ryder added.
And it will cost a driver upwards of $1,000 to get back the car, police said.
Law in place to hit offenders hard in the wallet, attorney says
Back in December, CBS News New York brought you the case of Beda Koorey of the Suffolk County town of Huntington. She no longer owns a car, but was stuck with thousands of dollars in fines for her Star Trek-themed vanity plate she had surrendered five years ago.
People from around the country bought that NCC-1701 plate from online vendors. The resulting scofflaw tickets went straight to Koorey.
Eventually, those tickets were overturned and several sellers were advised to cease and desist fake plate sales.
Attorney Kenneth Mollins, who helped Koorey undo her tangled mess, points to a New York vehicle and traffic law the state Assembly passed in Albany last September as a solution.
It says selling a deceptive license plate could bring a fine of up to $500 per plate. One vendor alone sold 1,000 such plates in January and Mollins says if the fines are enforced that one company would have $500,000 worth for one month.
“It’s illegal to sell, manufacture, or distribute these plates in New York,” Mollins said. “And they gave the attorney general the power to stop it. The law specifically says you bring an injunction, you stop it, and ask the judge for a fine.”
A representative from Amazon said the company is investigating the legality of sales of vanity plates. Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office says it is aware and monitoring.
CREDIT: CBS news Jennifer McLogan
