’Tag’ doesn’t cut it; Union County cracks down on a rash of fake license plates

Deputy Sheriff Jay Murray is on the hunt.

His head is constantly on a swivel, left to right, as he patrols the Union County streets in his gray patrol car. Murray takes turns scanning the cars in front of him and using the rear-view mirror to watch those who’ve passed him.

After only a few minutes on Matthews Indian Trail Road, a white Jeep Patriot flies by in the opposite direction. Murray slaps on his police lights and siren and makes a sharp U-turn.

“Got one!” he says as he steps on the gas to catch up with the Jeep. Once he approaches, the reason for the stop comes into view.

30 Day South Carolina Plate. Plate number TP-804978.

Despite the temporary license plate’s bold, authoritative letters, it’s a fake. The plate’s design is no longer used in South Carolina, Murray said.

Murray quickly types the plate numbers into his computer and is met with a pattern. This same exact tag was found on six different cars during recent traffic stops, he said. It’s an occurrence becoming all too common in Union County.

Over the past two years, officers with the Union County Sheriff’s Department have collected more than 1,400 of these phony tags from cars driving on their roads. Officers say there are many reasons people use fake plates: criminals hoping to avoid being tracked by law enforcement, evading fines on toll roads, or people trying to find a way to drive without a driver’s license or insurance.

Officers say they see a large concentration of these tags in Indian Trail largely due to its close proximity to I-485 and Highway 74. But they’ve seen others roaming the streets in cities like Waxhaw and Weddington.

Determining the exact source of these fake plates and understanding people’s aversion to properly registering their cars have left the Union County Sheriff’s Department with head-scratching questions.

Nonetheless, the Sheriff’s Department says it’s committed to keeping unregistered drivers off the roads and making one message abundantly clear: If you’re driving with a fake plate, stay out of Union County.

“We’ve seen a lot of success and people realizing that this is an issue,” Lt. James Maye said. “Union County is going to do something about this.”

Spotting the fake tags

In the garage of the Union County’s Sheriff’s Department a gray, 55-gallon bucket makes for an unconventional trophy case.

More than a thousand fake plates sit stacked high on top of each other. One plate, TP-2332192 – a plate commonly spotted and joked about on social media – has been caught by Union County deputies 96 times, Murray said.

The bucket is a visual representation of the department’s crackdown and the lengths some are willing to go to drive unregistered.

This can be clearly seen as Murray pulls examples out of the bucket.

Plates of poor quality are printed onto cardboard and construction paper. Thick layers of white-out are used to cancel out old expiration dates and make room to etch in a new one. And several come from car dealerships that no longer exist.

Others require a closer look. Murray trains his deputies to look for signs such as the size of text, whether the sequence of plate numbers aligns with the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles schedule, or if the water mark reaches the edges of the plate.

“There’s some of these fake tags that are a lot better quality than others. (And) there’s some that is a piece of cardboard that says, you know, “tag”,” Maye said. “There’s some that are just begging for the police to pull them over. (And) some that require a great deal of training.”

The source of these false tags is hard to track, officers say. From interviews with people they’ve pulled over, deputies say many of the plates are coming from online sales through places like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and Whatsapp. Buyers can get fake temporary plates for around $30-$50.

Some meet with dealers in-person to collect the plates. But when asked by officers where the sellers are located, they receive lackluster answers.

“We ask at a traffic stop trying to get to the source. And (they say) ‘It’s a guy that works at a dealership in Charlotte on North Tryon Street.’ OK, which one? ‘I don’t know,’” he recalled of a conversation.

Maye said he’s heard some go beyond just selling false plates. Some are selling fake insurance cards, inspection documents and title work.

“There’s a lot of stuff that we’re uncovering,” he said.

Taking action

Temporary tags are most often issued after purchasing a new car. Dealerships provide the plates to tide buyers over until they are able to properly register their vehicles.

But temporary plates — real and fake — aren’t traceable, Murray said.

Law enforcement has to jump through several hoops to connect cars with real temporary tags to their owners. The false tags further exacerbate the problem.

Criminals who are trying to avoid interactions with law enforcement use fake tags because they know they aren’t traceable, Lt. Maye said. Some people also use them to drive on toll roads like the Monroe Expressway.

“Drive up and down our toll roads now you’ll never pay a toll,” Deputy Michael Kenary said.

In North Carolina, driving with a fake license plate is a class 2 misdemeanor — a punishment that could result in up to 60 days in jail or up to a $1,000 fine.

Repeat offenders will have their cars towed and will face jail time, he said.

Citations for fake plates often come with other offenses, Lt. Maye said. Officers find these drivers are also driving uninsured, without a driver’s license or without registering their cars. Maye said some traffic stops have resulted in seizing felony narcotics, stolen guns and wanted fugitives.

But even without large busts, Maye said the department’s goal is to keep residents safe and reduce potential risks from uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

“We don’t want uninsured motorists on our roadways because that only raises my rates. It raises your rates. If you’re involved in a crash with that person and they’re at fault, it’s your insurance that has to pay for your injuries and your damages,” he said. “So ultimately, it hits our residents in (their) pocketbook and we don’t want that to happen.”

Drivers of unregistered cars give several reasons for using fake plates, Lt. Maye said. Some say they can’t get their driver’s license or get their car to pass an inspection.

“You’re going to spend $50 or $60 every 30 days. Why not just save that money and go do it the right way?” he questioned.

‘I got to get it right’

Illano Lopes was shocked to hear that the reason Deputy Murray pulled him over was for a fake temporary license plate.

He had just bought the car two months ago, he explained. The person who sold it to him off Facebook Marketplace said he was good to drive around with the 30-day tag for a few months.

Lopes said he’s had two interactions with the police in Mecklenburg County since he bought the white Jeep Patriot. One time he was pulled over for failing to turn on his blinker when switching lanes. The other was after a car accident. Neither time did officers question the validity of his plate, he said.

“They got to figure out whoever is doing this so they can fix the problem,” Lopes said of the police. “It’s not just the drivers. Yeah, of course, I should have had the car registered... But I just moved out here not too long ago. I’m still trying to figure things out.”

Lopes packed his things into his backpack and handed his keys over to the tow truck driver Deputy Murray had called. From the side of the road he watched the car he saved $7,000 to buy be hauled away.

Lopes said his next step is to get his car properly registered and insured.

“I just got to get it right,” he said. “I was saving my money so I could do it right. But the law caught up with me.”

This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.