LFC number plate scam

Police have launched an investigation after Liverpool fans lost thousands on a website promoting LFC registration plates.

Sal Adams of Lancashire told number plate owners he could make them up to £100,000 by selling their Reds number plates using his friends at Anfield and contacts in the Middle East.

But fans who put their number plates on the website said that the result was non-existent buyers and demands for up to £2,000 for legal fees and charitable donations.

Adams claimed he set up his website to sell the Fernando Torres plate "F9 LFC" for Unicef.

Following their own inquiries the UN children’s charity have said they do not want their trademark appearing on his site nor will they except donations from him.

Javed Hoque of Birmingham was told his F6 LFC plate was being purchased by Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah as it included the name of his F6 promotions company.

"He was very persuasive. He told me that talks with the Prince’s company were going very well, that this was an incredible opportunity and I had to act quickly. There was a lot of pressure and a lot of chat about how your family can benefit. He said I needed to pay £1,000 only for the solicitors fee. I paid it, but nothing happened." Said the Liverpool fan.

Mr Hoque went on: "He kept going on about what a big Liverpool fan he was but said he really liked Florent Sinama Pongolle."






Michael Guinan, a 31 year old accountant, of Chelmsford, owns the registration FT 09 LFC and was among the fans to contact Mr Adams.

"He promised up to £100,000 but it would cost me £2,000 to host it on the site. I told him straight away that I wouldn’t give him that but eventually I risked £500 up front and the rest at the end of the auction. He told me a guy from Norway had bought it and money was wanted for legal fees."

In e-mails sent to unsuspecting number plate owners Mr Adams writes: "The small fee is nothing to what you will received (sic) for your plates. We have a number of Middle Eastern customers who would place bids for your plate."

Lancashire Police confirmed they had arrested Adams, of Preston New Road, Blackpool, on suspicion of fraud relating to vehicle registrations and that the investigation was continuing.

Reg

Killer Number Plates

On Tuesday 1/12/09 we were notified that the number plate ranges below were being withdrawn from sale because they were deemed offensive:

BO10CS_ (A to Y)
BO10KS_ (A to Y)
and
(A to Y) _B10W ME

Todays email says that all the K11L registrations, withheld in 1992 for being offensive, are now returned to availability.

Not important really. Just makes me wonder how these decisions are made.

Anyway heres a list of all the K11L 'plates and their prices:

(PS; Don't bother looking for K11LER. If it had been in there, I would of had it ; )

K11LAB 390
K11LAC 390
K11LAD 390
K11LAE 245
K11LAF 245
K11LAG 245
K11LAJ 390
K11LAK 390
K11LAL 390
K11LAN 490
K11LAO 245
K11LAP 245
K11LAT 245
K11LAU 490
K11LAW 980
K11LAX 245
K11LAY 390
K11LBA 245
K11LBB 245
K11LBC 245
K11LBD 245
K11LBE 245
K11LBF 245
K11LBG 245
K11LBH 245
K11LBJ 245
K11LBK 245
K11LBL 245
K11LBM 245
K11LBN 245
K11LBO 245
K11LBP 245
K11LBR 245
K11LBS 245
K11LBT 245
K11LBU 245
K11LBV 245
K11LBW 245
K11LBX 245
K11LCA 245
K11LCB 245
K11LCC 245
K11LCD 245
K11LCE 245
K11LCF 245
K11LCG 245
K11LCH 245
K11LCJ 245
K11LCK 245
K11LCL 245
K11LCM 245
K11LCN 245
K11LCO 245
K11LCP 245
K11LCR 245
K11LCS 245
K11LCT 245
K11LCU 245
K11LCV 245
K11LCW 245
K11LCX 245
K11LCY 245
K11LDA 245
K11LDB 245
K11LDC 245
K11LDE 245
K11LDF 245
K11LDG 245
K11LDH 245
K11LDJ 245
K11LDK 245
K11LDL 245
K11LDM 245
K11LDN 245
K11LDO 245
K11LDP 590
K11LDR 245
K11LDS 245
K11LDT 245
K11LDU 245
K11LDV 245
K11LDW 245
K11LDX 245
K11LDY 245
K11LEA 590
K11LEB 245
K11LEC 245
K11LEE 1565
K11LEF 245
K11LEG 245
K11LEH 245
K11LEJ 245
K11LEK 245
K11LEL 245
K11LEN 1275
K11LEO 490
K11LEP 245
K11LET 390
K11LEU 245
K11LEV 245
K11LEW 390
K11LEX 390
K11LFA 245
K11LFB 245
K11LFC 490
K11LFD 245
K11LFE 245
K11LFF 245
K11LFG 245
K11LFH 245
K11LFJ 245
K11LFK 245
K11LFL 245
K11LFM 245
K11LFN 245
K11LFO 245
K11LFP 245
K11LFR 245
K11LFS 390
K11LFT 245
K11LFU 245
K11LFV 245
K11LFW 245
K11LFX 245
K11LFY 245
K11LGA 245
K11LGB 245
K11LGC 245
K11LGD 245
K11LGE 245
K11LGF 245
K11LGG 245
K11LGH 245
K11LGJ 245
K11LGK 245
K11LGL 245
K11LGM 245
K11LGN 245
K11LGO 245
K11LGP 245
K11LGR 245
K11LGS 245
K11LGT 245
K11LGU 245
K11LGV 245
K11LGW 245
K11LGX 245
K11LGY 245
K11LHB 245
K11LHC 245
K11LHD 245
K11LHE 245
K11LHF 245
K11LHG 245
K11LHH 245
K11LHJ 245
K11LHK 245
K11LHL 245
K11LHM 245
K11LHN 245
K11LHO 245
K11LHP 245
K11LHR 245
K11LHS 245
K11LHT 245
K11LHU 245
K11LHV 245
K11LHW 245
K11LHX 245
K11LHY 245
K11LJA 245
K11LJB 245
K11LJC 390
K11LJD 245
K11LJE 245
K11LJF 245
K11LJG 245
K11LJH 390
K11LJJ 245
K11LJK 245
K11LJL 245
K11LJM 390
K11LJN 245
K11LJO 245
K11LJP 390
K11LJR 245
K11LJS 245
K11LJT 245
K11LJU 245
K11LJV 245
K11LJW 390
K11LJX 245
K11LJY 245
K11LKA 245
K11LKB 245
K11LKC 245
K11LKD 245
K11LKE 245
K11LKF 245
K11LKG 245
K11LKH 245
K11LKJ 245
K11LKK 245
K11LKL 245
K11LKM 245
K11LKN 245
K11LKO 245
K11LKP 245
K11LKR 245
K11LKS 245
K11LKT 245
K11LKU 245
K11LKV 245
K11LKW 245
K11LKX 245
K11LKY 245
K11LLB 245
K11LLC 245
K11LLF 245
K11LLG 245
K11LLH 245
K11LLJ 245
K11LLK 245
K11LLM 245
K11LLN 245
K11LLO 245
K11LLP 245
K11LLT 245
K11LLV 245
K11LLW 245
K11LLX 245
K11LLY 785
K11LMA 245
K11LMB 390
K11LMC 390
K11LMD 245
K11LMF 245
K11LMG 245
K11LMH 245
K11LMJ 245
K11LMK 245
K11LML 245
K11LMM 245
K11LMO 245
K11LMP 245
K11LMR 245
K11LMS 390
K11LMT 245
K11LMU 245
K11LMV 245
K11LMW 245
K11LMX 245
K11LMY 245
K11LNA 245
K11LNB 245
K11LNC 245
K11LND 245
K11LNE 245
K11LNF 245
K11LNG 245
K11LNH 245
K11LNJ 245
K11LNK 245
K11LNL 245
K11LNM 245
K11LNN 245
K11LNO 245
K11LNP 245
K11LNR 245
K11LNS 590
K11LNT 245
K11LNU 245
K11LNV 245
K11LNW 245
K11LNX 245
K11LNY 245
K11LOA 245
K11LOB 245
K11LOC 245
K11LOD 245
K11LOE 245
K11LOF 245
K11LOG 245
K11LOH 490
K11LOJ 245
K11LOK 245
K11LOL 490
K11LOM 245
K11LON 245
K11LOO 390
K11LOP 245
K11LOS 785
K11LOT 390
K11LOU 980
K11LOV 390
K11LOW 390
K11LOX 245
K11LOY 245
K11LPA 390
K11LPB 245
K11LPC 245
K11LPD 245
K11LPE 245
K11LPF 245
K11LPG 245
K11LPH 245
K11LPJ 245
K11LPK 245
K11LPL 245
K11LPM 245
K11LPN 245
K11LPO 245
K11LPP 245
K11LPR 245
K11LPS 245
K11LPT 245
K11LPU 245
K11LPV 245
K11LPW 245
K11LPX 245
K11LPY 245
K11LRA 245
K11LRB 245
K11LRC 245
K11LRD 245
K11LRE 245
K11LRF 245
K11LRG 245
K11LRH 245
K11LRJ 245
K11LRK 245
K11LRL 245
K11LRM 245
K11LRN 245
K11LRO 245
K11LRP 245
K11LRT 245
K11LRU 245
K11LRV 245
K11LRW 245
K11LRX 245
K11LRY 245
K11LSA 390
K11LSB 245
K11LSC 245
K11LSD 245
K11LSE 245
K11LSF 245
K11LSG 245
K11LSH 245
K11LSJ 245
K11LSK 245
K11LSL 245
K11LSM 245
K11LSN 245
K11LSO 245
K11LSP 245
K11LSR 245
K11LST 245
K11LSU 245
K11LSV 245
K11LSW 245
K11LSX 245
K11LSY 245
K11LTA 245
K11LTB 245
K11LTC 245
K11LTD 390
K11LTE 245
K11LTF 245
K11LTG 245
K11LTH 245
K11LTJ 245
K11LTK 245
K11LTL 245
K11LTM 245
K11LTN 245
K11LTO 245
K11LTP 245
K11LTR 245
K11LTT 245
K11LTU 245
K11LTV 245
K11LTW 245
K11LTX 245
K11LUA 245
K11LUB 245
K11LUC 390
K11LUD 245
K11LUE 245
K11LUF 245
K11LUG 390
K11LUH 245
K11LUJ 245
K11LUK 390
K11LUL 245
K11LUN 245
K11LUO 245
K11LUP 245
K11LUT 245
K11LUV 390
K11LUW 245
K11LUX 245
K11LUY 245
K11LVA 245
K11LVB 245
K11LVC 245
K11LVD 245
K11LVE 245
K11LVF 245
K11LVG 245
K11LVH 245
K11LVJ 245
K11LVK 245
K11LVL 245
K11LVM 245
K11LVN 245
K11LVO 245
K11LVP 245
K11LVR 245
K11LVS 245
K11LVT 245
K11LVU 245
K11LVV 245
K11LVW 245
K11LVX 245
K11LVY 245
K11LWA 245
K11LWB 245
K11LWC 245
K11LWD 245
K11LWE 245
K11LWF 245
K11LWG 245
K11LWH 245
K11LWJ 245
K11LWK 245
K11LWL 245
K11LWM 245
K11LWN 245
K11LWO 245
K11LWP 245
K11LWR 245
K11LWS 245
K11LWT 245
K11LWU 245
K11LWV 245
K11LWW 245
K11LWX 245
K11LWY 245
K11LXA 245
K11LXB 245
K11LXC 245
K11LXD 245
K11LXE 245
K11LXF 245
K11LXG 245
K11LXH 245
K11LXJ 245
K11LXK 245
K11LXL 245
K11LXM 245
K11LXN 245
K11LXO 245
K11LXR 245
K11LXT 245
K11LXU 245
K11LXV 245
K11LXW 245
K11LXX 245
K11LXY 245
K11LYB 245
K11LYC 245
K11LYD 245
K11LYE 245
K11LYF 245
K11LYG 245
K11LYH 245
K11LYJ 245
K11LYK 245
K11LYL 245
K11LYM 245
K11LYN 1565
K11LYO 245
K11LYP 245
K11LYR 245
K11LYS 245
K11LYT 245
K11LYU 245
K11LYV 245
K11LYW 245
K11LYX 245
K11LYY 245

Reg

It's Free !!

Reg/UP51ART/Robert Steel

(Right. I'd best go find a job.. : )

6O sells for £100k

24-year-old Ghanim al-Hadaifi bought the registration 6 O during the final day of DVLA Personalised Registrations' Christmas auction at Tankersley Manor Hotel, near Barnsley.

This purchase takes his total spend for the year to more than £246,000 on just three number plates and yet he claims his number plate collection is still not complete.

Mr al-Hadaifi is a member of the Qatar diplomatic family living in London and he bought 4 O at the DVLA summer auction for £63,000 and 5 O at the agency's autumn event for £83,000, the latter of which was a gift for the Qatari ruling family.

Mr al-Hadaifis spokesman said: "Money is not really an issue, he just wants the best registrations he can have for his cars. Even though he has bought 4 O and 6 O for himself, he already has his sights set on numerous others which we hope will be auctioned next year."

DVLA Personalised Registrations released the O-series to commemorate it's 20th anniversary. Each of its six auctions throughout the year has featured one of the plates in its catalog staring with 1 O in January. In total, 1 O, 2 O, 3 O, 4 O, 5 O and now 6 O have raised £666,560 with all the money raised going to the Treasury.

"The O-series has been a phenomenally success for us. Clearly Mr al-Hadaifi has the bug to buy the best plates he can. What is extremely pleasing is that he always makes the effort to come along to the auction in person and raises the atmosphere to a whole new level" said Damian Lawson, DVLA Personalised Registrations' Marketing Manager.

Reg

DVLA '10' first day sales

DVLA Personalised Registrations' made £2 million from its first day sale of its 10-series registrations.

Senior staff at the Agency were stunned by the response on December 1. Incredibly, 2,329 registrations totalling £1.2 million were sold within the first hour of the sale going live at 8.30am.

The rush occurred as fans of private registrations clambered to buy the new series which can only be assigned to vehicles from March 1st, 2010.

"While we knew there was interest surrounding the new 10 series, we never expected the level of response we received on day one. We have all been left quite stunned." Said Damian Lawson, DVLA Personalised Registrations' Marketing Manager.

DVLA Personalised Registrations has sold more than 2.5 million number plates in it's 20 years of life and has more than 800,000 visits every month.

Reg

2 B(i)G 2 FAIL

This number plate belongs to the Morgan Stanley Vice-Chairman, Rob Kindler and I bet he's genuinely surprised every time his car gets vandalised....

Nice.

Reg

DVLA Ban More Plates

The DVLA withdrew two number plates from their latest auction (3/12/2009) for fear they may cause offence.

The registration 1 NLA was removed because it could be made to read 'INLA' which is the acronym for the outlawed Irish National Liberation Army that assassinated Conservative MP Airey Neave with a car bomb at the House of Commons in 1979.

The sale would have contravened a long-standing ban on plates associated with terrorists and could have outraged the families of the people killed by the paramilitary group during the Troubles in Northern Ireland .

PAK 11N was pulled because it could be made to read 'PAKI IN' which includes term of abuse often directed at immigrants from the South Asian Islamic Republic.







A senior DVLA executive said "human error" was to blame for the registrations slipping through the net.

1 NLA was due to be auctioned with a reserve price of £3,200 on the second day of the three-day sale of 1,500 numbers expected to raise a total in the region of £2 million.

But previous experience suggests that the final bid may have been higher. It would almost certainly have raised a five-figure sum at the auction at Tankersley Manor, Barnsley, South Yorks.

PAK 11N was due to be auctioned on Friday and had a reserve of £400. Both number plates had been passed for sale by a DVLA internal standards committee that considers each registration prior to sale.

The withdrawals come just two months after the DVLA was forced to remove from sale two homophobic plates - F4 GOT and D1 KES - from its last auction following a complaint from gay rights charity Stonewall. Click Here! For more information

Its 'proprietary steering group' is in place to sensor number plates that could be altered to spell out potentially offensive words .

"Missing the potential significance of these particular marks was human error. They have been removed as a precaution in case they cause offence,"

"More attention is being paid by the steering group for future sales. Out of the thousands of marks we sell, one or two may slip through the net.

"Some people may see a registration as offensive. Some people may not. We have to be very, very careful now." said Damian Lawson, DVLA Personalised Registrations marketing manager.

Since 1989 when the cherished numbers scheme was first launched, three million personalised plates have been sold raising £1.3 billion. Sales are now estimated to generate between 4 and 5 million pounds a month.

The first DVLA auction was held at Christies in London where 74 registrations went up for sale including 1A for £160,000, 1 T (£56,000) and MUS 1C (£65,000) and more than 120 auctions have been held since.

The record sales price for a registration plate at a DVLA auction is £440,625 (£375,000 plus VAT) bought by Mr. Afzal Khan in January, 2008. Click Here To see BBC News Report

The DVLA list of banned registrations includes 054 MA, HE58 OLA and BU58 OMB plus all plates beginning with JE and ending HAD.

The Agency has been accused of being a spoil sport for banning the sale of much less offensive sequences like 59 ANK, 59 ERM, BO10 CKS and P10 NKA but I think in the future we may well see these plates either returned to availability or put under the hammer.

Reg

Ferrari fan buys 458 FER

Ferrari fan John McKeon paid £21,714 for what he hopes will be the ultimate personalised registration for his Ferrari 458 when it arrives next year.

458 FER was sold during the first day of DVLA Registrations' three-day auction currently being held at Tankersley Manor Hotel, near Barnsley.







Although the £21,714 price tag was the most spent on a single registration, Mr McKeon decided to buy another two registrations - 2 END and DUM 8B - for "a bit of a laugh", spending a grand total of £25,000.

Immediately after securing the 458 FER registration, Mr McKeon said: "What a buzz. Buying the plate was nearly as exciting as buying my Ferrari, I just can't wait to see it on my car."

He added: "The 458 Italia has to be the Ferrari of the moment, as far as I'm concerned I have the perfect private registration for it. "

Reg

KS10 XXX or SC10 CUR?

Now this is a subject which divides the nation somewhat, well the UK anyway: personalised number plates. Some think they're cool. Some think they're naff. And some can't see what the fuss is about, and would prefer to spend their money on other things. All points of view are entirely reasonable: it's a matter of personal taste. I happen to think that a personalised number plate adds a touch of individuality to that metal box with rubber wheels that sits on your drive.

The '10' registrations went on sale today. I've bought two of them. They're not for the battered hulk that I've been driving around in since 2002. They're for the new car I'll probably be obliged to get by the end of 2010. My ten-year-old Honda CR-V has done nearly 130,000 miles and although it continues to give good service, it is showing signs of age. If it breaks down, I shan't give it a further chance. As a vulnerable and feeble girly, I can't risk driving a car that isn't reliable at midnight on a snowy night; nor one that might burst a hose when towing the caravan up some hill. So new car, new fancy registration. Of course, it might happen that the randomly-allocated plate that my new car will come with may be an interesting one; but probably not.

So I've become the proud owner of KS10 XXX and SC10 CUR, which on the plate look just the same as KSIO XXX and SCIO CUR.

The first is 'kissio kiss kiss kiss' (please don't laugh). The second is of course Latin for 'I know why', which may intrigue a few people if they know any Latin at all (although I suspect that it's bad Latin). I hope neither intrigues the police!

I did consider some other registrations, such as PR10 RTY ('PRIORTY' - too expensive, and someone got in before me anyway), SC10 LEX ('SCIO LEX' - Latin for 'I know the law', except that it should be 'SCIO LEGEM' which you can't have with the UK system), and the uplifting and aspirational SC10 PAX ('SCIO PAX' - Latin for 'I know Peace', except that it really ought to be 'SCIO PACEM', which again you can't have).

Of course, apart from finding the cash for a new car, I still have to decide between kisses and knowledge. Now that's not an easy or obvious choice to make!

Posted by Lucy Melford

Don't know why. I just liked it.
Thanks Lucy

Reg

Fraud trail for Peter Swatton

Arrogant Peter Swatton claims he's one of Britain's top players when it comes to personalised car number plates.
(Odd that since I'd never heard of him until I read this article)

Mainly he's good at getting personalised County Court Judgments.

We've heard from one of his latest victims, who bought a plate from Swatton's www.cherishedmarks.net in January 2007.

It took nine months, but eventually the plate arrived.

He went on to buy two more personal plates for a total of £6,750 in July last year.

"In March this year I finally received a certificate for one plate, with no mention of the other," he told us.

"I have made over 200 attempts to contact him. When I spoke to him last year he kept mentioning his terms and conditions which state that he can keep the money until the plate is ready - but that could go on indefinitely."

So he sued Swatton for £3,050, joining the long list of people who've taken the 53-year-old from Titchfield, Hants, to court.

He also operates as Berlinetta and www.carnumbers.piczo.com, and has 31 outstanding judgments against him, worth more than £90,000.

The largest is for £8,509 and another is almost five years old.

We first came across this walking disaster following a string of complaints in 2004.

The first thing he said when we turned up at his house was: "Are you bailiffs?"

But when we tried contacting him again this week the gate to his detached house was padlocked and our phone calls and emails were ignored.

If you want a personal plate, buy one through a member of the Retail Motor Industry's Cherished Numbers Dealers Association (www.cnda.co.uk).

Swatton, funnily enough, is not a member.

Update: Due to a pending court case we cannot for the moment accept any further comments on this blog. If you wish to post a comment please do so, but we won't be able to publish it at this time. When proceedings are concluded normal service will be resumed.

Article Author:

By Andrew Penman on December 3, 2009 12:00 AM in Investigations news


Reg