Woman warns Ontario drivers after getting caught up in licence plate cloning scam
An Ontario woman was surprised to find out her licence plate was duplicated by another driver after multiple Highway 407 bills landed in her mailbox.
“When I looked up those dates, it was the Easter weekend and I wasn't even in the city,” Obioma Dike told CTV News Toronto.
Obioma Dike received three Highway 407 bills after her licence plate was fraudulently duplicated. The bill indicated that Dike took Highway 407 three times – on April 8, 9 and 28 – for a total cost of just over $60.
She asked for camera evidence of her car travelling on the provincial-owned highway that spans from Burlington to Pickering, and received images of what appeared to be her licence plate secured to a Nissan like her own.
“But it’s not my car,” she said.
A close look at the tolled vehicle compared to Dike’s shows differences in the details – one car has a dealership plate, is a SV model and has a flared frame around the radiator grille, while the other has none of these features.
“This appears to be a case of fraud where the person’s licence plate number was duplicated,” Christina Basil, a spokesperson for Highway 407, told CTV News Toronto.
“Unfortunately, fraudulently duplicated plates do happen. 407 ETR will always reverse charges for customers if we can confirm the criminal misuse of their licence plate.”
The car tolled on Highway 407 (left) compared to Obioma Dike's car (right). In situations like this, Basil said customers should report their licence plate as lost or stolen to the police and return the plates to the Ministry of Transportation right away. The ministry added that they encourage drivers to launch formal inquiries when these situations arise.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the fraudster appears to have intentionally chosen a vehicle that almost identically matched the one with the original licence plate.
“The suspect vehicle was in fact trying to impersonate the victim's vehicle,” he said. “That would certainly cause me pause.”
Schmidt said he doesn’t know what the intentions of the driver were in this case, but if they were committing a crime, the licence plate duplicate could be used as a getaway vehicle.
“Obviously this is a concern for everybody,” he said.
While Dike got a new licence plate and is seeking a refund on her bill, she’s still left wondering, “if somebody were to be using my plate number, what else could they be doing with my identity?”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.