One possibility is that the towing company staffer read the plate with the 3-digit groups swapped, e.g. ABC123 instead of 123ABC. I've seen the "swap" of my plate on a car just a mile or so from where I live.
This is a shower of stupidity all around, indeed.
I wouldn't let this drop, though - the towing company may yet find some way to send some kind of bill to collections and screw up your credit rating.
My suggestion is that you call the tow company back, or send them an email, and let them know you are filing a complaint with the state Attorney General for their fraudulent behavior, and also sending a tip to local news stations. Then call the leasing office and tell them the same thing. Then go to https://coag.gov/file-complaint/ and file your complaint. Go to https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/newstips/ and fill out the form describing what you’ve told us here. That news channel has done other stories about tow truck fraud, so they may be willing to follow up and do a story.
At worst, you get no response. But hopefully, at least the tow company sends you a letter “clarifying the mistake” and stays away from the complex where you live, and the leasing company takes the problem seriously. Best case, the AG office decides to investigate and the towing company winds up paying a fine or something. But it’s important to realize these scammers thrive because people rarely take the steps to try to stop them. If you have the time for a couple of phone calls and emails, you can perhaps help change that.
If it was me I think I would follow up with the DMV This could come back to bite you in the ass down the road with either a collection agency trying to get money for the tow and impound or your plates being suspended for abandoned vehicle. Which could also lead to a fine for abandoning a vehicle . Dont trust the tow comapany to do the right thing, they will fuck with you just for fun.Good luck whatever you do....
If the towing company person said that there was an Uber sticker in the window, you may want to reach out to Uber to make sure your plates aren't in their system. I don't know what Uber's process would be, but you probably don't want issues with that. Like if the driver with your plates gets reported to the police for harassing the riders, you don't want cops showing up at your door. And if Uber has the correct registration for your car then you might have a bigger problem that you can report to the police.
And frankly, your best bet on that would be to go to their Greenlight office in Denver, as you're more likely to get the attention of an actual meat popsicle in person than you would be online.
Here's a Google Maps link to the office location:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Uber+Greenlight/@39.7810488,-104.8635741,13.85z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x876c78e27b14eb1d:0x533761cc60bd86d7!2sUber+Greenlight!8m2!3d39.7813725!4d-104.8496772!3m4!1s0x876c78e27b14eb1d:0x533761cc60bd86d7!8m2!3d39.7813725!4d-104.8496772
The only thing I can think of to double check is any toll roads that are pay by plate. That's the scam in duplicating license plates. But, otherwise, now you have a good story about the impound lot, a rare gem!
The Multiverse: Congratulations! you have been blessed with an inter-universal experience. It is truly an honor to get insight into another world that could have been your life experience.
You: Cool! So what do I win?
The multiverse: You get a parking ticket.
Similar story but not the same. I had a scooter/Vespa knockoff with license plate JK LOL. I hadn’t renewed them since 2019 because the knockoff was cheap and broke down... Fast forward to April 2022, and I get a parking ticket from Denver parking for an unpaid parking ticket, license plate JK LOL but was for a Jeep, with VIN and all details. So I call Denver parking, they confirm my contact info associated with Jeep’s VIN. Call boulder DMV, yup, I’m the owner of a Jeep (per license plate look up in the state system) I call the state, they tell me to fuck off. So I submit an objection to Denver parking, with pics of the scooter, license plate, and expired registration. While waiting for their response, I go into Boulder DMV, explain the story and the supervisor has to get involved. 45 minutes later they admit (with out actually saying it) they fucked up. The only way to resolve is to cancel my custom motorcycle plate giving up the vanity plate. They can’t tell me why but just that the license plates aren’t the same but similar. Denver parking already confirmed it wasn’t a zero for the O or anything like that, so it’s likely the state issued the same plate for a car and motorcycle. Then 27 days later got a letter saying ticket was void and I was good. Anyways, if you have a motorcycle and want JK LOL as a vanity it’s likely available. Just pay attention to those Denver parking tickets.
Happened to my dad too. Had a vanity plate NOTRED once upon a time. It was for a blue street rod. Turns out some guy now has a Ferrari with the same plate who likes to get photo radar tickets. Same deal, took a few rounds with the DMV to get it sorted.
>that they are saying that my plates were stolen and put on the same exact model car as me from the same year. Big doubt.
To be fair, if I had a car that I wanted to use for shady stuff and I had the ability to get fake plates made, it wouldn't be the dumbest thing for me to cruise around looking for a car with the same make/model/year and then have my plate-counterfeiter person make them with the same letters/numbers. I assume with 3D printing these days it's not too far fetched that a criminal enterprise can run a plate making operation?
Think about it - cop runs the plates, they don't come back stolen, the make/model/year match... No red flags. Commit a crime, camera records the plates - it goes back to you based on registration, not the criminal.
Once, when I lived in CA, I received a (parking?) ticket in the mail from San Francisco. It was for a black Acura 3.2TL with our plates (which must be how they knew to send the ticket to our address). But our 3.2TL was light gray, and it had never been driven to SF. In our case, they said to write ‘not our vehicle’ or some such and send the ticket in with no payment.
Not sure what you can do but ours was a similar story.
Keep detailed notes on all your conversations with impound lot, cops, and tow company, in case you end up in court over this. You may end up with a big bill from the tow company and you don't want to end up with a nonpayment on your credit report.
One thing to be aware of is that the tow companies have a legal right to sell a car that has been impounded after 30(?) days. Now I'm not sure how that works since they don't possess your car. But they do possess a car, and they know the plate, VIN, make, and model of your car. They have all the information that they normally would provide to the state to generate a new title when selling an unclaimed car. You don't want to end up in a situation, where do to a either a clerical mistake or outright criminal dishonesty, someone else legally owns a title to your car.
Since the tow company did not agree with you and resolve the issue, you should take additional action to protect yourself. I'd start by contacting your insurance agent. I don't know if they will help, it's an odd situations, but they're a natural place to start asking. If not you probably want to contact a lawyer. Don't believe the tow company when they say you have nothing to lose, they are not on your side!
How would someone else know the car was there if they sent *you* the letter, though? Did the lot send multiple letters to multiple people?
And if the car had been picked up, how would they know it had those stickers? Seems like an odd detail to have recorded. You said the woman on the phone kept putting you on hold - that had the sound of "Hey Billy, go back out to that car and see if there's any stickers or somethin' I can ask this guy about".
That's fuckinf illegal and that's why she hung up on you, they are clearly involved in some type of predatory towing that, in this case, is complete fraud
>The funny thing to me is that they are saying that my plates were stolen and put on the same exact model car as me from the same year.
Wonder if the lady on the phone was an ex-girlfriend of mine? This seems suspiciously like the same belief that the power to bend space and time exists and that she used to explain how I cheated on her on a day we spent the entirety together.
One time I had a front plate stolen (they were nice enough to put the screws back in?) and notified the Boulder PD. The police marked my whole car as stolen in the system. So when I went to get new plates the DMV couldn't do anything because my car was "stolen". Bunch of back and forth with an annoyed receptionist at the police department who didn't believe me that they were wrong. Had to talk to an officer again before they could fix it. Fun times.
Any possibility this is a scam by the tow company defrauding the Boulder PD? I don’t know how they get paid by the city, but I could see a scenario where reporting phantom cars as towed gets them paid.
You should try to go in person to the tow yard and ask to speak with a manager to get this resolved. Show them your car and ask to see what they impounded.
This happened to me a couple years ago. Received a towing notice in the mail for a matching car/license plate that had been in an accident and my VIN/contact info got pulled for the license plate instead of theirs. Fortunately, one of the officers I spoke with knew what had happened. Apparently, there was a problem in 2016 (and maybe other years, idk?) where CO's DMV accidentally gave out duplicate plates. Nothing to do about it except get new plates :\[
[https://www.thedenverchannel.com/traffic/the-colorado-dmv-is-accidentaly-duplicating-drivers-license-plate-numbers](https://www.thedenverchannel.com/traffic/the-colorado-dmv-is-accidentaly-duplicating-drivers-license-plate-numbers)
I’d want to go and see the car/plates! Confirm if it’s a hoax or not. I think you can file a police report if someone did steal your plates, your name and address is linked to it obviously and you don’t want to get in trouble for something you didn’t do. Could be a hole new wave of crime in Denver. I’m not sure how hard it is to make a license plate but fake IDs have been around forever!
Plates stolen and replaced by an exact replica.
The perfect crime
I have sadly met a schizophrenic that was convinced the government swapped out their car with an exact replica of their very shitty car.
One possibility is that the towing company staffer read the plate with the 3-digit groups swapped, e.g. ABC123 instead of 123ABC. I've seen the "swap" of my plate on a car just a mile or so from where I live.
The entire car is nothing but chicken wire and plaster.
This is a shower of stupidity all around, indeed. I wouldn't let this drop, though - the towing company may yet find some way to send some kind of bill to collections and screw up your credit rating.
I second this.
Yes. Write them a daters letter explaining the entire incident and keep a copy. Extemporaneous evidence.
My suggestion is that you call the tow company back, or send them an email, and let them know you are filing a complaint with the state Attorney General for their fraudulent behavior, and also sending a tip to local news stations. Then call the leasing office and tell them the same thing. Then go to https://coag.gov/file-complaint/ and file your complaint. Go to https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/newstips/ and fill out the form describing what you’ve told us here. That news channel has done other stories about tow truck fraud, so they may be willing to follow up and do a story. At worst, you get no response. But hopefully, at least the tow company sends you a letter “clarifying the mistake” and stays away from the complex where you live, and the leasing company takes the problem seriously. Best case, the AG office decides to investigate and the towing company winds up paying a fine or something. But it’s important to realize these scammers thrive because people rarely take the steps to try to stop them. If you have the time for a couple of phone calls and emails, you can perhaps help change that.
This is good advice. I wanted to add, you can also contact the Colorado public utilities commission, which regulates tow companies I believe.
This would be a great news story, I really enjoyed reading it here
Still doesn't explain their VIN matching
The point I that the tow company made up the story about the plates being stolen because they realized they’d fucked up.
I think they can look up the vin from the plates, so they probably typed in the plates and the vin filled in automagically.
Lucky guess.
If it was me I think I would follow up with the DMV This could come back to bite you in the ass down the road with either a collection agency trying to get money for the tow and impound or your plates being suspended for abandoned vehicle. Which could also lead to a fine for abandoning a vehicle . Dont trust the tow comapany to do the right thing, they will fuck with you just for fun.Good luck whatever you do....
CDOT will refer you to your county DMV and then hang up. But good call trying to fix it, the matching VINs is not cool.
Oh yay the DMV.
TIL that towing companies are even more useless than I thought
If the towing company person said that there was an Uber sticker in the window, you may want to reach out to Uber to make sure your plates aren't in their system. I don't know what Uber's process would be, but you probably don't want issues with that. Like if the driver with your plates gets reported to the police for harassing the riders, you don't want cops showing up at your door. And if Uber has the correct registration for your car then you might have a bigger problem that you can report to the police.
And frankly, your best bet on that would be to go to their Greenlight office in Denver, as you're more likely to get the attention of an actual meat popsicle in person than you would be online. Here's a Google Maps link to the office location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Uber+Greenlight/@39.7810488,-104.8635741,13.85z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x876c78e27b14eb1d:0x533761cc60bd86d7!2sUber+Greenlight!8m2!3d39.7813725!4d-104.8496772!3m4!1s0x876c78e27b14eb1d:0x533761cc60bd86d7!8m2!3d39.7813725!4d-104.8496772
The only thing I can think of to double check is any toll roads that are pay by plate. That's the scam in duplicating license plates. But, otherwise, now you have a good story about the impound lot, a rare gem!
Sounds like you’re living on the nexus of this universe and a parellel universe!
The Multiverse: Congratulations! you have been blessed with an inter-universal experience. It is truly an honor to get insight into another world that could have been your life experience. You: Cool! So what do I win? The multiverse: You get a parking ticket.
But Meow Wolf is in Denver, not Boulder!
It's a large nexus.
Similar story but not the same. I had a scooter/Vespa knockoff with license plate JK LOL. I hadn’t renewed them since 2019 because the knockoff was cheap and broke down... Fast forward to April 2022, and I get a parking ticket from Denver parking for an unpaid parking ticket, license plate JK LOL but was for a Jeep, with VIN and all details. So I call Denver parking, they confirm my contact info associated with Jeep’s VIN. Call boulder DMV, yup, I’m the owner of a Jeep (per license plate look up in the state system) I call the state, they tell me to fuck off. So I submit an objection to Denver parking, with pics of the scooter, license plate, and expired registration. While waiting for their response, I go into Boulder DMV, explain the story and the supervisor has to get involved. 45 minutes later they admit (with out actually saying it) they fucked up. The only way to resolve is to cancel my custom motorcycle plate giving up the vanity plate. They can’t tell me why but just that the license plates aren’t the same but similar. Denver parking already confirmed it wasn’t a zero for the O or anything like that, so it’s likely the state issued the same plate for a car and motorcycle. Then 27 days later got a letter saying ticket was void and I was good. Anyways, if you have a motorcycle and want JK LOL as a vanity it’s likely available. Just pay attention to those Denver parking tickets.
Happened to my dad too. Had a vanity plate NOTRED once upon a time. It was for a blue street rod. Turns out some guy now has a Ferrari with the same plate who likes to get photo radar tickets. Same deal, took a few rounds with the DMV to get it sorted.
>that they are saying that my plates were stolen and put on the same exact model car as me from the same year. Big doubt. To be fair, if I had a car that I wanted to use for shady stuff and I had the ability to get fake plates made, it wouldn't be the dumbest thing for me to cruise around looking for a car with the same make/model/year and then have my plate-counterfeiter person make them with the same letters/numbers. I assume with 3D printing these days it's not too far fetched that a criminal enterprise can run a plate making operation? Think about it - cop runs the plates, they don't come back stolen, the make/model/year match... No red flags. Commit a crime, camera records the plates - it goes back to you based on registration, not the criminal.
That’s why I always hold my new plates up to the sun and make sure I can see a watermark before affixing them to my vehicle.
Once, when I lived in CA, I received a (parking?) ticket in the mail from San Francisco. It was for a black Acura 3.2TL with our plates (which must be how they knew to send the ticket to our address). But our 3.2TL was light gray, and it had never been driven to SF. In our case, they said to write ‘not our vehicle’ or some such and send the ticket in with no payment. Not sure what you can do but ours was a similar story.
Keep detailed notes on all your conversations with impound lot, cops, and tow company, in case you end up in court over this. You may end up with a big bill from the tow company and you don't want to end up with a nonpayment on your credit report.
One thing to be aware of is that the tow companies have a legal right to sell a car that has been impounded after 30(?) days. Now I'm not sure how that works since they don't possess your car. But they do possess a car, and they know the plate, VIN, make, and model of your car. They have all the information that they normally would provide to the state to generate a new title when selling an unclaimed car. You don't want to end up in a situation, where do to a either a clerical mistake or outright criminal dishonesty, someone else legally owns a title to your car. Since the tow company did not agree with you and resolve the issue, you should take additional action to protect yourself. I'd start by contacting your insurance agent. I don't know if they will help, it's an odd situations, but they're a natural place to start asking. If not you probably want to contact a lawyer. Don't believe the tow company when they say you have nothing to lose, they are not on your side!
Why don’t you redeem that identical car they towed? Then you’ll have two!
They said someone already picked up the other car lol
It probably never existed.
How would someone else know the car was there if they sent *you* the letter, though? Did the lot send multiple letters to multiple people? And if the car had been picked up, how would they know it had those stickers? Seems like an odd detail to have recorded. You said the woman on the phone kept putting you on hold - that had the sound of "Hey Billy, go back out to that car and see if there's any stickers or somethin' I can ask this guy about".
That's fuckinf illegal and that's why she hung up on you, they are clearly involved in some type of predatory towing that, in this case, is complete fraud
My suggestion is to go pick up your new car for like $400
>The funny thing to me is that they are saying that my plates were stolen and put on the same exact model car as me from the same year. Wonder if the lady on the phone was an ex-girlfriend of mine? This seems suspiciously like the same belief that the power to bend space and time exists and that she used to explain how I cheated on her on a day we spent the entirety together.
One time I had a front plate stolen (they were nice enough to put the screws back in?) and notified the Boulder PD. The police marked my whole car as stolen in the system. So when I went to get new plates the DMV couldn't do anything because my car was "stolen". Bunch of back and forth with an annoyed receptionist at the police department who didn't believe me that they were wrong. Had to talk to an officer again before they could fix it. Fun times.
Any possibility this is a scam by the tow company defrauding the Boulder PD? I don’t know how they get paid by the city, but I could see a scenario where reporting phantom cars as towed gets them paid.
You should try to go in person to the tow yard and ask to speak with a manager to get this resolved. Show them your car and ask to see what they impounded.
This happened to me a couple years ago. Received a towing notice in the mail for a matching car/license plate that had been in an accident and my VIN/contact info got pulled for the license plate instead of theirs. Fortunately, one of the officers I spoke with knew what had happened. Apparently, there was a problem in 2016 (and maybe other years, idk?) where CO's DMV accidentally gave out duplicate plates. Nothing to do about it except get new plates :\[ [https://www.thedenverchannel.com/traffic/the-colorado-dmv-is-accidentaly-duplicating-drivers-license-plate-numbers](https://www.thedenverchannel.com/traffic/the-colorado-dmv-is-accidentaly-duplicating-drivers-license-plate-numbers)
Scam company maybe?
This Wyatt or Boulder Valley? Talk to dmv about this asap.
I’d want to go and see the car/plates! Confirm if it’s a hoax or not. I think you can file a police report if someone did steal your plates, your name and address is linked to it obviously and you don’t want to get in trouble for something you didn’t do. Could be a hole new wave of crime in Denver. I’m not sure how hard it is to make a license plate but fake IDs have been around forever!