[Porsche-O-Phile]

The scam is to avoid detection by stealing plates off another car (that have the current year's sticker) to avoid drawing attention, or by going to one of the MANY "el cheapo" insurance places around here, paying a modest ($100-ish) "first installment" on the policy to get an insurance card and therefore get the car registered. DMV gives 'em a current year sticker and they don't bother making any more payments on the policy, which is cancelled for non-payment after a month. Repeat year after year as necessary to get a current sticker AND an insurance card that indicates they have coverage. No way to tell unless someone actually CALLS the insurance company to verify the policy stated on the card is current (and this is never done).

A co-worker of mine got his BMW sideswiped by someone running this scam (which I guess is very common). Fake name (of course), very polite at the accident scene, showed registration & insurance card and was never found again. A call to the insurance company told him that "Jose" (or whatever the guy's name was) did not have current coverage, even though he was carrying one of those insurance cards with "valid Jan. XX - Dec. XX" on it. Once the guy drove away, having convinced him that he was legit and had given proper documents to put a claim in, there went any chance of collecting.

This apparently happens A LOT - at least that's what the insurance company & cops said.

Long story short, my friend got his policy rate jacked up due to an "uninsured motorist" claim. The good guys lose. Again.