[AnkitHJain7]

Today (Feb 15, 2024) at 2:39 PM I received a phone call from a number that I did not recognize. The person identified himself as Mr. X (he gave his real name, but hiding it on here) from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

He asked if I was the owner of the vehicle number TN-03-AC-6651, which is my White 2020 Kia Seltos. I was initially skeptical of this and was fearing it was a spam/marketing phone call. I did confirm that the vehicle is owned by my family to ascertain why he had been calling. (Vehicle is registered in my mothers name)

Mr. X then went on to inform me that my vehicle was involved in a road accident in the Boranada area of Jodhpur, Rajasthan at approximately 11 AM on the same day (Feb 15, 2024). He knew my car number, my moms name (who was the registered owner) my name (my guess is from true caller when he called me), and the fact that we were the second owners. All this I still thought was some elaborate scam, because all this info is easily accessible on Vahan.

When I further probed on the details of the vehicle that hit him, he stated that a white colored vehicle, that looked like a “Creta or Kia” had collided with him near an SBI office in Boranada and almost ran over him. The accident had left Mr. X injured, and he had to be taken to the hospital because of a fractured leg. I was shocked as my vehicle was at my residence in Chennai at the time.

The vehicle involved had damages that caused it to leave behind the number plate at the spot in pieces. Which is how he was able to find my information and ascertain that this was the vehicle that had hit him. He even stated that if the number plate had not fallen down, he would have not been able to figure out who did it.

All of this was very shocking to me as my car has never been to Rajasthan and it has not been outside of South India in my entire ownership period. The Seltos has been in Chennai the whole day, and I have CCTV footage from my home that will corroborate the location of the vehicle in addition to an Apple AirTag tracker that was also in the vehicle.

Mr. X requested I send him an image of my vehicle to confirm that I was being truthful about my statements. I initially felt uncomfortable sharing images of my vehicle to an unknown party. I told him I'll do it, and hung up the phone. I was in shock and didn't really know what I should do. My wife who was besides me suggested that I not send anything and wait for a call back to see if it was a scam. I agreed, but couldn't get it out of my head. I started to do some digging and I noted that number Mr. X called me from had an active WhatsApp with his own picture as the profile photo, as well as a WhatsApp status that was last updated in 2018. The status was not the generic one's you'd see from a spammer/robot, but a quote written in Hindi. This led me to believe he is most likely not a bot/scammer, and possibly telling the truth. I dug a bit deeper and also found a Facebook profile with a slightly different spelling of his surname than what he pronounced (nothing major), and it also had another image on the profile that was clearly identifiable as the same person in his WhatsApp profile photo. The first post on the FB account goes back to 2019, so not a brand new account either.

Knowing these details, I then decided to call him back at 3:03 PM to enquire about how he had gotten my details and my phone number, because I was still very confused about the situation. He informed me that he has a relative who is an ST in the department and they had provided my contact details to him. He stated he was a government employee who worked in the electrical department and was on duty when the incident occurred. I think at this point he still thought I was the guy that hit him and was making up an elaborate story. He was a bit agitated about me not sending him the photos like I said I would. I then asked him why he needed the picture of my vehicle because there would be no way to prove what city the vehicle is in based on just the picture. He said that if I sent a picture and video, he would at least be able to verify the condition of my vehicle. He claimed that the vehicle involved in the collision with him had damage on the front end, and if my vehicle didn’t it would solidify my side of the story for him.

At this point I decided to share the image of my vehicle with him, because he did sound genuine and I wanted to assist him with finding who had committed this crime and clear myself and my vehicle of any wrongdoing. Plus at this point there wasn't anymore info that he could get from a picture that he didn't already have. So I took an image of my vehicle inside my home, as well as a video showing him the date and time on another mobile phone and the front section of my car. I promptly sent Mr X the video and picture on WhatsApp.

I then called him back at 3:15 PM to inform him that I’ve sent the images. He confirmed that he had received the images and he confirmed that my plate looked different from the plate he had recovered. I informed him that I have never changed the plate of my car and it has been that way since the day I purchased the vehicle. He also concurred that my plate looked like something you'd get from a showroom, and the kind of plate he recovered. We then had a discussion and I informed him that I had never taken the vehicle to Rajasthan. He asked if I had any relatives in the area, to which I told him I did not. He was very perplexed and was saying that it's very wrong what's happening. Someone is using your number and you don't even know. I told him that how was I to know, and I do agree it's very wrong. At that point I just said we can proceed and figure out what to do to find the actual suspect.

He informed me that he will be pursuing the matter legally by filing the FIR because there isn't anything else he can do. I assured him that I will help with the investigation in any means necessary. I even offered to bring my vehicle to a local police station or RTO office immediately to prove my vehicle is not the one that was involved in the collision. He stated that he will let the authorities handle the investigation and asked me to answer the phone and speak to the authorities if they call.

After this happened I called a lawyer friend (he's area of expertise is in a different part of law, but didn't know who else to reach out to) who said I could eithervisit a police station or file an online complaint. I raised concern of who exactly to meet at a police station, and whether or not they'd even pay any heed to a case that isn't a serious matter. To which my friend then agreed and said the best option is to file an online complaint and start from there. So I've filed the online complaint and now I'm just stuck waiting to see what happens next.

I thought, I'd ask if anyone else on here has been in a similar situation. I am feeling super tense because I of course don't want to be held liable for criminal activity that others have committed, nor do I want to spend my time dealing with endless legal matters that aren't of my own doing. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do to safeguard myself and my mom (who is the registered owner)?

P.S: In addition to this incident, On Jan 3, 2024 I had gotten two fraudulent charges on my FasTag at Chennasamaduram Toll Plaza at 10:49 and 11:34 AM. This is a good 100kms away from my house, and my vehicle on that day as well had been parked at my home. I had immediately raised a complaint by calling the FastTag issuing bank who informed me the only option was to send an email with the transaction details, RC Copy, and photos of the car. So I sent an email with all the details they asked of my vehicle immediately. At that time I had assumed it might have just been a mistake or computer error on the end of the FastTag, since I haven't received anymore fraudulent charges on my FastTag. However, I’m not sure anymore. The charges have yet to be reversed and I haven't heard back from them either, 5 weeks later.

So it's further solidifying the thought that there might actually be another car running my number plate. Feeling very frustrated and stressed out.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Thread moved to Street Experiences!

[srvm]

Originally Posted by AnkitHJain7

Today (Feb 15, 2024) at 2:39 PM I received a phone call from a number that I did not recognize. The person identified himself as Mr. X (he gave his real name, but hiding it on here) from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
.....
I thought, I'd ask if anyone else on here has been in a similar situation. I am feeling super tense because I of course don't want to be held liable for criminal activity that others have committed, nor do I want to spend my time dealing with endless legal matters that aren't of my own doing. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do to safeguard myself and my mom (who is the registered owner)?
......

I feel very sorry for you brother. And I totally understand your situation.
In 2020, someone was found using my Activa's number and was caught bootlegging (a much lesser headache compared to hit-and-run crime).

My experience is posted here in this thread (My experience: Vehicle with the same registration number as mine confiscated by the Excise Dept). It may help you.

[Hayek]

Forging number plates and Fastags does seem to be a big issue. As discussed at length in another thread, there are plenty of examples of fake debits from Fastags. For example, I have had numerous debits on my X3’s Fastag from southern Tamil Nadu (which my car has never visited) over a 6 month period (when the car was in Bombay) before I changed the tag. It took being able to show a debit on roads in Bombay like the sea link on the same day to convince HDFC Bank about where my car was.

Not had a fake debit since then - but it did strike me as odd that the toll operators don’t bother to verify if the number plate matches the number on the tag (unless someone had forged my plate which is even scarier). Do think we need a rapid shift to the High Security Plates - but in states like MH, there isn’t even a process which lets you fit a HSRP on an old car (as far as I know).

With traffic fines etc based on number plate recognition, this is very dangerous indeed.

[Engine_Roars]

It is possible that they misread one of the digits from the broken number plate and ended up calling you instead of the actual owner.

It is also possible that it indeed was a fake number plate. I am not sure if you can do much about it at this point except may be build your defenses and keep the proofs ready that could evidently prove that your vehicle never crossed the state border on or around that day.

All the best, hope you come out of this super quick.

[sagarpadaki]

Can you ask the other person to share the pieces of the broken number plate with which he deduced your car number? That way you can be sure that the number matches that of your car.

[revsperminute]

A friend of mine got a challan for not wearing a helmet on his Innova. Same case of forged number plates being used on someone’s bike. As far as I remember, the challan was cancelled. However, a hit and run case sounds like a lot more of a headache.

[gururajrv]

This is very disturbing indeed! I really hope you find a
favorable solution soon enough.

Now do we have any means to find if any imposters are present?

[handsofsteel]

I received a similar challan from Mumbai traffic police for Helmet less riding. The attached photograph showed an unknown person riding a Bajaj pulsar at 0230h in the morning hours at Worli, Mumbai. Considering I’ve been in Delhi for the last few years, can account for my presence on the given day and that my vehicle is a scooter of a different colour, decided to appeal. Two months later, the appeal (an online complaint) is still showing as “in process”. I don’t know if it’s a case of a fake number plate or a typo at the police department’s end. Waiting and watching.

[rehaan2]

You've cooperated with him, so now, after consulting with your lawyer friend ask Mr X to send you :

- Multiple clear pictures of the number plate he has recovered (this might be your easiest way out of this - in case he's made some assumption about missing / incomplete digits etc).

- A picture or two of his injuries. Doesn't hurt to have.

- Exact date, time & location of accident.


As insurance:

- Save your building CCTV footage showing your car parked that day. Ideally get enough other footage before/after of your neighbors coming/leaving etc, just so it can't be said the date/timestamp on the footage is altered.

- Find your most recent image of your car (showing the style of plates) posted on social media, or Team-BHP etc. Keep a screenshot & link to this accessible.

- See if you can take a video of your car, showing the lack of damage & still the same plates - with some sort of timestamp (front page of TOI proves it's a videos that's at least as new as today, and by sending it on whatsapp & email to someone you could technically close the time-window to show it wasn't taken later than today).

Originally Posted by AnkitHJain7

P.S: In addition to this incident, On Jan 3, 2024 I had gotten two fraudulent charges on my FasTag at Chennasamaduram Toll Plaza at 10:49 and 11:34 AM.

I read on Team-BHP that toll operators can charge the fastag of a car based on the number plate. (for eg., if "the fastag is not scanning properly"). So note that it's NOT a case of your actual fastag being used/present at the time. It could even be a totally different make/model car.

I wouldn't actively correlate 2 incidents, though it is good that you have the written email as proof.


Lastly, once you've covered your bases as best as you can - let it go. There's a good chance you will never hear of this again. (Not to minimize the issue, but it sounds like the injury was thankfully only a broken leg, and not something much worse). Chances are the police will not follow it up, especially across state borders. They have bigger fish to fry.

[kaps454]

Hi,
I have a different story but involves number plates in a way.
My car was rear ended by a white fortuner bearing the registration number, UP16CR0975. The address with the authorities does not have the same person staying there, neither is the phone number of the same person. The car is shown to be at the end of its life (diesel 10 years) but the UP16CR series is new (a few years old).
Police are least bothered in finding out who the person is and frankly neither am I.
regards kaps454

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by AnkitHJain7

Today (Feb 15, 2024) at 2:39 PM I received a phone call from a number that I did not recognize. The person identified himself as Mr. X (he gave his real name, but hiding it on here) from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Sir, am I the first person who is telling you that you have been duped?

This is a scam. You were successful in not getting scammed as you had the proof.

If you were not having any proof, for whatever reason, they would have scammed you.

Share the phone number of that person here, such that others are not scammed.

It is a pity that there are loopholes in our RC management systems that these scamsters are having access to such information like phone numbers and name of the owners etc.

Do not talk to these people any longer. Period.

Editing as I forgot to tell you something. Call them and say that you have gone to your local police station and they were asking the details of the police station under the jurisdiction where this accident happened. Tell him that you have shared his phone number with the inspector and he can expect a call soon. See what happens!

[anjan_c2007]

It's an ordeal for sure but since nothing has happened past the day of phone calls, it's better to now get prepared to defend yourself against such "scamsters" if the issue is aggravated. There's no cause for any anxiety, since you're guilt free but its better to get prepared to defend and put X in the dock.

You can ask him to supply:-

(1) copy of FIR filed by X against the so called "Rajasthan Creta or Kia" owner.

(2) how was that X commuting? By scooter/bike or on foot? If on a vehicle, details of his vehicle make registration number and images showing damages to this vehicle of X.

(3) hospital name, hospital address and details, hospital register entry details for patient, copy of admission memo, copies of bills of medicines administered, surgery details and bills with copies of hospital bills.

You can surely ask him for all this data ( you will get his full name and address on the hospital documents asked for) in the first instance to get a grip on the "scamster X's" activities. If some further scam incidents happen, you can go to your nearest police station in Chennai and lodge a FIR against X. Please record his phone calls. And if it aggravates further, a criminal case in your local District Court referring to your Chennai FIR can be thought of.

[careind]

There seems to be some explanation at least for the “fake” debits in the fastag account.

I think there is a facility in the toll booth where the toll booth operators can levy toll based on vehicle number if the fastag does not work for some reason.
While doing so, if the operator keys in a wrong character or some one is using a fake number ( but still a different fastag), then the associated account gets debited.

I had a car with an exempted fastag. I peeled off the fastag when I sold the car to spinny. I got a toll message ( 0 debit) from a nearby toll 2 days later albeit destroying the fastag.
That is when I figured out this could probably be the case.

[AnkitHJain7]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences! It was good to have so many of your insights into this being a possible scam as well. However I have another update that I didn't have time to share earlier, but should give more insight.

On the same night as the incident at around 9:30 PM, I received a call from Mr. X. He told me that he had spent the day on the phone trying to get any information possible on what had happened and who was at fault. At last he was able to find out that the vehicle was a drug carrier that had been carrying drugs at the time of the incident. The vehicle was suspected to be stolen as well. I have no idea how he figured this out. I regret not asking him how he came to know. My best guess would be that given he stated he had a close relative who was an ST in the police department, they had the resources to dig through and possibly ID the person who was driving.

Mr. X informed me that he has the complaint registered, but isn't going to press the matter any further. He said he won't go back to the station to take back the complaint either because he is worried that it would look as if he had been paid off by the drug runners. He did say that it is most probably that the police will not be taking any action anyways. While a bit unnerving I didn't want to ask him to change his mind on this either. After this discussion I thanked him for calling me first and letting me know what was going on and also trying to get my story before proceeding with legal action. He was very understanding and told me that he didn't want any trouble, but just wanted the issue to be resolved. He was very kind and told me the least he could do was give me the benefit of the doubt as he was suspicious himself. I told him if even half the people in the world felt the same way, we would have a vastly different society. He replied by saying "Sir, hume sikhaya gaya hai ki kissi ka bhalla na kar sake toh thik hai, but kabhi kisi ka buraa nahi karna chahiye". Overall he

He then told me to please do whatever I can to safeguard myself and file a complaint with the police and authorities so that there is no doubt on me and my vehicle in the future. He even offered to send a picture of the plate that was taken, which he did. I agreed and asked him if he was doing well, to which he said he's fine. We ended the call there and that ended the matter with Mr. X.

My thoughts here are that if this were a scam, he would have no point to call me back and tell me what he had discovered. He wouldn't have any incentive to encourage me to seek legal protection and safeguarding. He never asked me once to pay money, or threaten me in anyway. So for the time being there is no reason to believe Mr. X is a scammer. Now I am keeping my mind open to information as it comes in. If any new evidence comes to light that contradicts any of this, I will change my view accordingly.

As for the plate he sent, it clearly has my number and is broken. Aligning with the early story that Mr. X told me. The plate is one you'd get from a car decor shop or something. It wasn't a stamped or HSRP plate. So clearly a fake plate being put on a car and being run around in an another state all together.



I have yet to hear back from any authorities on my official complaint as of yet, but will keep you posted once I hear back.

Originally Posted by rehaan2

You've cooperated with him, so now, after consulting with your lawyer friend ask Mr X to send you :

- Multiple clear pictures of the number plate he has recovered (this might be your easiest way out of this - in case he's made some assumption about missing / incomplete digits etc).

- A picture or two of his injuries. Doesn't hurt to have.

- Exact date, time & location of accident.


As insurance:

- Save your building CCTV footage showing your car parked that day. Ideally get enough other footage before/after of your neighbors coming/leaving etc, just so it can't be said the date/timestamp on the footage is altered.

- Find your most recent image of your car (showing the style of plates) posted on social media, or Team-BHP etc. Keep a screenshot & link to this accessible.

- See if you can take a video of your car, showing the lack of damage & still the same plates - with some sort of timestamp (front page of TOI proves it's a videos that's at least as new as today, and by sending it on whatsapp & email to someone you could technically close the time-window to show it wasn't taken later than today).




I read on Team-BHP that toll operators can charge the fastag of a car based on the number plate. (for eg., if "the fastag is not scanning properly"). So note that it's NOT a case of your actual fastag being used/present at the time. It could even be a totally different make/model car.

I wouldn't actively correlate 2 incidents, though it is good that you have the written email as proof.


Lastly, once you've covered your bases as best as you can - let it go. There's a good chance you will never hear of this again. (Not to minimize the issue, but it sounds like the injury was thankfully only a broken leg, and not something much worse). Chances are the police will not follow it up, especially across state borders. They have bigger fish to fry.

Thank you so much for your message. I do have the exact date, time, and location of the incident, as well as the picture of the broken plate. I will go and save the CCTV footage right now, and to be safe I'll save the footage from a day before and after too. Doesn't hurt to have a wide berth of footage in the case it's ever needed.

As for the FastTag, I do agree. Not sure they're correlated. However, in the moment, you can see why I'd link the two together. I will further try to press on the FastTag customer care to give me a resolution on this incident and provide me with photos of the vehicle that they claimed to have used my tag as well just to see what happens with that.

Honestly, I think you're right and no one is going to mention this again. It's a relatively minor injury in another state. All I am hoping for is that those that have been masquerading with my number plate have decided that this number is unusable now because of this incident and will forever rid themselves of it.