I’ve got a huge warning today for anyone who’s selling a car online and for those who think they have found a website where they can run a license plate trace without having a legitimate, permissible purpose.

What scammers do is go through online classified ads where cars are sold by owners. If the scammers can read the license plate number in the online photo of the car, they record the license plate number and contact information of the seller.

The license plate database scam relies on finding photos like the one shown here.

The photo above shows the type of ad the scammers are looking for. I redacted the license plate and some location data from the photo.

The scammers then place the information in their “online database of license plates”. It’s a small collection of plate numbers and associated addresses, but their goal is not to grow a large usable database.

What they do is contact the seller and tell them their license plate number, phone number and home address are listed in a database available to the public to run license plate checks, however there is a way to be removed from the database.

And here’s the shakedown… the person / victim who wants to be removed, can pay money (to cover the cost of modifying the database) and their private information will be removed.

So here’s how to protect yourself (and your clients)… Simply make sure if you have a car for sale online that the license plate is not visible in the online photos.

I want you and the people you care about to be safe.

Is this a message you should share with someone?

Stay Safe,
Larry Kaye,
Private Investigator (Ret.) &
#1 Best Selling Author

P.S. – Don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it right here…

P.P.S. – Here’s the link to The Truth about License Plate Searches and a 1% Solution video.