Someone just took a picture of my license plate?

domrush · 20-05-2015 9:14am #1

Just parked up in work there and I had someone pull up behind me and take a picture of my license plate? When he saw I spotted him he smiled and waved and then pretended to take pictures of the surrounding area before speeding off.
I wasn't driving fast/slow and didn't cut anyone off in the preceding drive. Should I be worried?

power pants · 20-05-2015 9:16am

I probably would be worried.

OptimusTractor · 20-05-2015 9:17am

domrush wrote: »

Just parked up in work there and I had someone pull up behind me and take a picture of my license plate? When he saw I spotted him he smiled and waved and then pretended to take pictures of the surrounding area before speeding off.
I wasn't driving fast/slow and didn't cut anyone off in the preceding drive. Should I be worried?

Could be looking to rob it. Any CCTV around?

domrush · 20-05-2015 9:20am

Plenty of CCTV, its in an industrial estate with about 30-40 cars around it , its only an 06 Golf whereas there's some 2014 audis and beemers etc around it?

power pants · 20-05-2015 9:20am

clone your plates?

_Brian · 20-05-2015 9:21am

Going to clone it maybe.

domrush · 20-05-2015 9:23am

Should I contact the Guards?

Sam Kade · 20-05-2015 9:24am

domrush wrote: »

Just parked up in work there and I had someone pull up behind me and take a picture of my license plate? When he saw I spotted him he smiled and waved and then pretended to take pictures of the surrounding area before speeding off.
I wasn't driving fast/slow and didn't cut anyone off in the preceding drive. Should I be worried?

Why didn't you call the cops :rolleyes:

gaz wac · 20-05-2015 9:27am

Sam Kade wrote: »

Why didn't you call the cops :rolleyes:

I thought once your in a public place your fair game for pix, no ?

Sam Kade · 20-05-2015 9:28am

gaz wac wrote: »

I thought once your in a public place your fair game for pix, no ?

It was a dig

license plate?

kingtut · 20-05-2015 9:31am

Were you parked properly or taking up more than 1 space etc?
Seems to be a ton of facebook groups set up for "a$$hole parkers" where by anyone not perfectly parked gets ridiculed

Kenny Logins · 20-05-2015 9:32am

Show us your parking.

domrush · 20-05-2015 9:33am

kingtut wrote: »

Were you parked properly or taking up more than 1 space etc?
Seems to be a ton of facebook groups set up for "a$$hole parkers" where by anyone not perfectly parked gets ridiculed

No just the one spot,parking was fine, he gave me the thumbs up and smiled before he drove away which has me puzzled

Yawns · 20-05-2015 9:33am

Perhaps not the time to be digging at him just yet over it tho, he may have more pressing concerns on his mind, no?

OP, while it's fresh, write down a description of the person you saw. Get it as detailed as you can. If you think there was a cctv, then try ask someone in security to check it for you. They should save the footage required if you ask. Ring the guards and tell them what you saw. If they clone your plate, generally the first you find out is stuff like the eflow letters saying oyu were on M50 and not paid or a garda visit cos car was used in criminal activity. If you have a record of it now, you might save yourself a bit of hassle down the line.

Of course nothing might come of it either but I wouldn't take a chance.

gumbo1 · 20-05-2015 9:37am

I regularly take pics of cars and their reg plates when they park out side my house blocking access or egress from my property and send them to dublin city council. Don't think any points or fines have been handed out to then cause the same cars always park up for the day, if they were punished they'd stop.
Think you'll be Ok OP.

granturismo · 20-05-2015 9:40am

gumbo1 wrote: »

I regularly take pics of cars and their reg plates when they park out side my house blocking access or egress from my property and send them to dublin city council. Don't think any points or fines have been handed out to then cause the same cars always park up for the day, if they were punished they'd stop.
Think you'll be Ok OP.

He wasnt parked on DCC property.

@yawns gave good advice.

punisher5112 · 20-05-2015 9:45am

Quite possible it was once his car.

Is the reg anything special number wise to match model or engine size?

Maybe he liked how clean you keep it.

There are lots of different things. Did you get his reg?

Foxhole Norman · 20-05-2015 9:50am

What car do you drive OP?

biko · 20-05-2015 9:53am

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

What car do you drive OP?

domrush wrote: »

06 Golf

Cloning might be an option but then he could just have waited until you left car. Or simply memorised the plate as he drove by.

You can write details down of course, but as this is not something you can control I wouldn't worry about it. But that's me.

domrush · 20-05-2015 9:54am

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

What car do you drive OP?

Mark 5 Golf, just a 1.6 not a GTi or anything, nothing special. Car wasn't blocking access to anything, was in a regular spot outside my place of work. There's a cctv camera pointing directly at where your man was parked so I intend to try and get the footage at lunch. Do security companies give out footage generally or do they just hold it for the guards?

punisher5112 · 20-05-2015 10:06am

domrush wrote: »

Mark 5 Golf, just a 1.6 not a GTi or anything, nothing special. Car wasn't blocking access to anything, was in a regular spot outside my place of work. There's a cctv camera pointing directly at where your man was parked so I intend to try and get the footage at lunch. Do security companies give out footage generally or do they just hold it for the guards?

under data protection they aren't allowed to give footage.
You could ask can they see his reg and keep for peace of mind.

I wouldn't worry if they want to clone that can be done anytime. If they wanted to rob car they would do so mostly with keys.
You be grand.

biko · 20-05-2015 10:08am

Maybe you have a stalker OP

domrush · 20-05-2015 10:10am

Thanks for the replies folks, will ask for the footage to be kept for my own peace of mind

hmmm · 20-05-2015 10:13am

Some guy who wasn't happy with your driving? Off to rage on boards.ie

54and56 · 20-05-2015 10:16am

domrush wrote: »

Should I contact the Guards?

Why didn't you take a picture of him and his car?

kingtut · 20-05-2015 10:19am

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Why didn't you take a picture of him and his car?

I'm guessing it is because the guy sped off!

horse7 · 20-05-2015 10:27am

Suppose its not as bad as the someone who took my reg plates,front and back. Reported it to the gardai,but they are not really interested.

Foxhole Norman · 20-05-2015 10:27am

biko wrote: »

Cloning might be an option but then he could just have waited until you left car. Or simply memorised the plate as he drove by.

You can write details down of course, but as this is not something you can control I wouldn't worry about it. But that's me.

Completely missed where he said his car

I wouldn't be overly worried to be honest, maybe he just liked it

Nekarsulm · 20-05-2015 10:30am

Or playing some kind of number spotting game. Strange people out there!
Even people on this forum picturing abandoned cars, oldest cars etc...

Cushie Butterfield · 20-05-2015 10:45am

domrush wrote: »

Should I be worried?

Could be something or nothing.

Only you know whether or not you've made a health/ability to work related insurance claim recently, if you're co-habitating with someone who's not meant to be, if you're 'playing around' & perhaps being followed by a PI, if you owe money & are subject to a visit from the county sheriff etc etc.

It could be absolutely nothing to worry about e.g. someone playing a numbers game etc, but as others have advised it's probably a good idea to report the matter to the gardaí, so at least it's on record should something more sinister arise at a later date e.g. cloning of plates, eflow bills etc

H3llR4iser · 20-05-2015 10:50am

punisher5112 wrote: »

Quite possible it was once his car.

Most likely this - it doesn't require it to be a "special" car or reg. Every now and then I do spot my old Megane still going around, still in fairly good shape. At least once, I did take a picture of it. The fact the guy made, intentionally, eye contact with you reinforces this possibility.

Another possibility is that he was taking pictures of the area, and your car happened to be in the way; To "clone" a plate you really only need pen & paper (or just good memory), and with all the public parking places the opportunity aren't scarce - I can't see why one would drive behind a car, be spotted and smile too.

Keep your eyes open in the next few weeks for eTolls/fines just to be on the safe side, but I wouldn't worry.

20-05-2015 12:03pm

OP was there any modifications to the car like lexus lights or similar.
He might have had a similar car to you at home and wanted to mod it as well

manjosh · 20-05-2015 3:43pm

I suggest you file a report about the stuff, incase something happens. Plus i do not think your "person" is in any kinda danger. Cos if their was something, am thinking he wouldn't risk showing face. So you will be fine.

punisher5112 · 20-05-2015 4:41pm

manjosh wrote: »

I suggest you file a report about the stuff, incase something happens. Plus i do not think your "person" is in any kinda danger. Cos if their was something, am thinking he wouldn't risk showing face. So you will be fine.

Gardai would not file this as nothing happened or anything illegal either.

jrar · 20-05-2015 8:01pm

OP, without giving away your reg. no, is it distinctive in any way i.e. matching up with model type, could be read a certain way, unusual number sequence, etc ?

There are reg plate enthusiasts who salivate over unusual plates but mostly satisfy themselves by taking pictures of "rare" plates or plates from overseas, the further away the better etc. They even have a name...auto-numerologists !

Doubt very much it's a cloning issue as that doesn't require a photo

Why do you feel it was specifically your reg plate he was photographing - maybe it was the overall rear of your car, as someone else has suggested, do you have any mods done ?

kona · 20-05-2015 8:03pm

Maybe he's just a freak.

domrush · 20-05-2015 8:14pm

jrar wrote: »

OP, without giving away your reg. no, is it distinctive in any way i.e. matching up with model type, could be read a certain way, unusual number sequence, etc ?

There are reg plate enthusiasts who salivate over unusual plates but mostly satisfy themselves by taking pictures of "rare" plates or plates from overseas, the further away the better etc. They even have a name...auto-numerologists !

Doubt very much it's a cloning issue as that doesn't require a photo

Why do you feel it was specifically your reg plate he was photographing - maybe it was the overall rear of your car, as someone else has suggested, do you have any mods done ?

No nothing unusual about the plate,I suppose that's a possibility. I wouldn't be worried really expect he sped away fairly lively after what I thought to be him pretending to take picture of random objects once spotted.

ardmacha · 20-05-2015 8:17pm

Some of the conspiracy theories here are a bit far fetched. Modern photographic technology is such that a camera can be easily concealed as a button, James Bond style techniques are open to all of us. Consequently, someone could be photographing your car every day of the week if they wanted to, especially if they had nefarious motives.

Redser87 · 20-05-2015 8:19pm

He was probably just embarrassed and that's why he took other photos. It could have been a number that crops up in a certain movie or TV show a lot. Or yeah, the car he used to own. Could even have been a number sequence that makes up his birthday or the ages of his kids, whatever. I have often played around with numbers of busses, reg plates (not while I'm driving myself ha) etc in my head to come up with another number... thought this was something everyone did but it's a harmless enough use of brainpower I suppose!!!

punisher5112 · 20-05-2015 8:19pm

Maybe one of those guys that actually fall in love with a car and it use to be his and now wants her back.

You know love and all can make people do very strange things...:pac:

Redser87 · 20-05-2015 8:20pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Maybe one of those guys that actually fall in love with a car and it use to be his and now wants her back.

You know love and all can make people do very strange things...:pac:

Bit heartless to sell his only love.

TheChizler · 20-05-2015 8:34pm

How do you know he was only pretending to take the subsequent photos? Maybe he was taking a load of pictures of the area and your car happened to be in the way. Or how do you know he was taking photos at all? Could he have been trying to get signal on his phone or read a text without his glasses or something?

pa990 · 20-05-2015 8:36pm

domrush wrote: »

Just parked up in work there and I had someone pull up behind me and take a picture of my license plate? When he saw I spotted him he smiled and waved and then pretended to take pictures of the surrounding area before speeding off.
I wasn't driving fast/slow and didn't cut anyone off in the preceding drive. Should I be worried?

Report to the gardai, that someone tool a picture of your car parked in a public space.

Explain that no crime has been committed and you want it to be investigated.

See what happens

coolbeans · 20-05-2015 8:41pm

OP I wouldn't be annoying the guards with this. They won't give a hoot and quite rightly in my view. No crime committed. Don't be wasting their time because if you do it'll be a waste of yours. They've better things to be at.

Redser87 · 20-05-2015 8:42pm

TheChizler wrote: »

How do you know he was only pretending to take the subsequent photos? Maybe he was taking a load of pictures of the area and your car happened to be in the way. Or how do you know he was taking photos at all? Could he have been trying to get signal on his phone or read a text without his glasses or something?

This is a good point actually, he could have been trying to get the satnav on his phone working and wanted to pull in rather than risk penalty points for using his phone while driving.

pippip · 21-05-2015 7:21am

Dodgy but could be a case like this

A woman who mistakenly shamed a man on social media because she believed he was taking photos of her children when he was just taking a selfie has offered a grovelling apology after receiving death threats.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3076246/Mum-shamed-man-Facebook-taking-photos-kids-just-taking-Star-Wars-selfie-offers-grovelling-apology.html

keithclancy · 21-05-2015 9:44am

Do you have German style license plates ?

My friends got a kick out of those when they were over visiting.

Dr_Bill · 21-05-2015 10:48am

No crime in taking photographs in public, people use camera phones all the time and for the more serious photographer out there it's called street photography!!

alias no.9 · 21-05-2015 11:57am

punisher5112 wrote: »

under data protection they aren't allowed to give footage.
You could ask can they see his reg and keep for peace of mind.

I wouldn't worry if they want to clone that can be done anytime. If they wanted to rob car they would do so mostly with keys.
You be grand.

If you're the subject of the footage, you can request it, they would have to pixelate the other person.

Chris_Heilong · 21-05-2015 12:04pm

Redser87 wrote: »

He was probably just embarrassed and that's why he took other photos. It could have been a number that crops up in a certain movie or TV show a lot. Or yeah, the car he used to own. Could even have been a number sequence that makes up his birthday or the ages of his kids, whatever. I have often played around with numbers of busses, reg plates (not while I'm driving myself ha) etc in my head to come up with another number... thought this was something everyone did but it's a harmless enough use of brainpower I suppose!!!

Agreed, I take pictures of cars that impress me in some way, but if I saw the owner looking at me I would feel embarrassed and try and take attention away from my self.

dodderangler · 21-05-2015 12:07pm

Could well be looking to rob it.
Could put your reg into a computer and find out where u live, possibly be able to get a key that matches the car in question and code one.
If these lads have the technology they can easily do all that and take your car and it'll be shipped off before you even wake up.

Someone just took a picture of my license plate?

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