IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp
A viral post in WhatsApp groups has resurfaced a false claim about rampant ‘number plate robberies’
The post that was widely shared and forwarded reached Namibia Fact Check in early September 2023 and claims that robbers or hijackers remove car number plates and then lure potential victims by claiming to have found the plates and wanting to return them to the car owner, who is then robbed when they engage with the supposed good samaritan.
The car number plate robbery scare has been around for more than a decade.
The latest version of the viral post (image below) states:
“Number Plate Robbery:
There is a new number plate hijacking trend. Hi-jackers follow you to a parking lot, after you leave your vehicle, they remove your number plate and wait.
When u come back and drive off, they follow you. They then overtake you, displaying your number plate out of their window as if you just lost it and they want to give it back to you.
When you stop to get your number plate back, guns come out and they take the car. Maybe even take you and your car.
It’s a very well rehearsed and organised plan and everything happens very quickly.
Other motorists may not be aware of what is happening as you stopped the car yourself. Pls alert others to this danger!!!
Don’t keep this news. Spread it…..“
Claim history
The earliest examples of the ‘Number Plate Robberies’ appear to have been recorded in 2009 or 2010 and were reported on in this article titled ‘Hijackers ‘trick victims with number plates’, written by Thandi Skade in February 2010. The South Africa-focused article stated that the message was spread via email.
Since then the robbery scare has traveled around the global internet, for instance appearing in a Facebook post from 23 February 2016 on a South Asian community news page.
The post was also fact checked by Snopes on 21 December 2016 and they found the claim to be false, stating the following:
“Carjacking is called “hi-jacking” in South Africa, where that specific crime is far more prevalent and hit a peak of nearly 15,000 between 2008 and 2009… As is often the case, a search of news reports led to no mentions of any such acts being committed either in the United States or South Africa at any point.”
The Namibian Police response
Namibia Fact Check could not find police alerts about this sort of crime trend in Windhoek, or Namibia in general, and approached the Namibian Police for comment.
Police spokesperson Kaunapawa Shikwambi explained to Namibia Fact Check that she could not find information on reported or recorded incidents of ‘Number Plate Robberies’ in Namibia. She stated the following:
“The regions also confirmed that they only picked up that information about number plate scam on social media. Whether true or false, only the initiator will know, but be that as it may, it is regarded as a safety and security alert, hence the public is cautioned. All efforts geared towards individual and property safety must be appreciated.”