Leanne Sheehy, a fitness instructor from Manchester, is facing a nightmare situation after discovering her car's number plate was cloned. This has led to a series of parking and fuel theft fines she's been unfairly burdened with.
Leanne Sheehy, a 33-year-old fitness instructor from Swinton in Manchester, is facing a nightmare situation after discovering her car's number plate had been cloned. This has led to a growing pile of fines she's been forced to deal with. The ordeal began in January when Leanne received a £100 (€120) parking fine from Euro Car Parks for an alleged violation at a pub car park in Cheshire – a place she'd never been.
Initially, she thought she might have made a mistake, but further investigation revealed something was amiss. She explained to Manchester Evening News, 'I panicked, wondering what I had done and where I had parked. I thought, ‘Lesson learned.’ But as I read more into it, I realised something was off. Cheshire? I only drive a few miles to work and back. I asked my partner if they had borrowed my car. When we Googled the address, neither of us had ever been there and we don’t live near there. So, I decided to pursue the fine itself. I explained the situation to them and showed confirmation I had been speaking to the police and the fine was rescinded.' Just days later, Leanne received another fine – this time from Shell – accusing her of driving away without paying for £40 (€48) worth of petrol at a garage in South Manchester. An additional £30 (€36) admin fee was also added. Leanne shared, 'I thought that was the end of it. But a week or so later, I got another letter. This time, it said I had gone to a Shell garage, put in £40 (€48) of petrol, but there was a £30 (€36) admin charge, and I had driven off without paying. My initial reaction was, ‘£70 (€84)?!’ This was about a week after the parking fine issue. Earlier this month I started to panic – had I taken my car away too quickly? I always pay at the pump. Had I done something by accident? But when I read into the details, I realised I hadn’t even been to that petrol station. At that point, I knew this was becoming an ongoing problem. It had to be the same person, as they hadn’t been caught.' That's when the gravity of the situation hit her. Leanne realized she had likely become a victim of car cloning, a type of vehicle identity theft where thieves copy a vehicle's registration plate and accumulate fines under the owner's name. Recognizing the seriousness, Leanne immediately contacted both Shell and Greater Manchester Police, but her ordeal continued. It wasn't until she saw CCTV footage from Shell that the full extent of the scam became clear – the person using her number plate wasn't her. She explained, 'There was a video clip, so you could see who did it and I could save it. I was thinking, ‘God, this person has been right near my car and has chosen me. It was a bit like, ‘Why me?’ It’s just become so brazen as well. He’s got this car with no tax and insurance, but that’s not good enough. He now wants his petrol for free and to park anywhere for free. If he was a cunning criminal, he’d keep his head down and get away with it, but now I have these letters and fines – hopefully he’s shot himself in the foot. There’s nothing stopping him, he knows he can get away with it. I pay my council tax, car tax, car insurance and I don’t want to sound like one of those people, but this is the first incident I’ve had where I’ve needed the police. What’s really unusual is I’m very boring. I literally drive to work and back, and that’s like two miles. Apparently, my partner said people will look for the same make and model. They’re not even paying car tax or insurance, and what I said in my first email if there was a hit and run or something, God forbid it looks like I’ve done it.' Leanne's case is ongoing, and while Shell has stated that their customer service team will review her case, she's still awaiting a resolution from them, as well as Greater Manchester Police. The Manchester Evening News has reached out to GMP for comment
CAR CLONING VEHICLE IDENTITY THEFT FINES SHELL EURO CAR PARKS GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
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