Parking charge photo has been photoshopped to show my husband's reg.

Daffodil78

My husband received a parking charge from CP Plus. The photo shows a vehicle of the same make and model, but the registration looks like it has been edited. My husband's reg includes the letter O but the photograph looks like a letter C with a blob covering up the gap to make it look like an O. The rest of the reg plate matches my husband's and none of the other characters have any 'extra' marks.
He was nowhere near the place where his vehicle was supposedly photographed and neither was his vehicle, it was actually locked up in a yard at the time. I have checked the DVLA database and can see that all the registration numbers that are similar to my husband's, are all the same make and model. I'm wondering if the company has sent letters out to everyone who has a similar reg in the hope someone will pay?
My husband wants to ignore it, but I am unsure. Surely they are committing a crime by doing this? This isn't really about unpair parking charges, but I figured some of you might have heard of this happening before. I was surprised not to find others with this problem when I searched the forum. I have found a newspaper article that was similar, but it didn't give any indication as to what to do about it.
Any helpful suggestions welcome as I couldn't see this situation mentioned on the Newbies thread.

nosferatu1001

Is it photoshop, or the actual number plate having a carefully placed screw to make a C look like a O?
Or just an artifact on the plate, such as dirt.
If so it could be a misread, no?

Redx

Try usually add the VRM onto the photos , no Biggie

It's probably a misread , but should be appealed by the keeper , not ignored !! Ignored is foolish

Read the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum , third thread down

My brother got one from Smart last year and it was a different make of vehicle altogether

Did CP plus comply with POFA ?? If not there is no keeper liability anyway

Daffodil78

nosferatu1001 said:

Is it photoshop, or the actual number plate having a carefully placed screw to make a C look like a O?
Or just an artifact on the plate, such as dirt.
If so it could be a misread, no?

I'm not 100% sure. It has to have been edited in some way though because his vehicle wasn't there. 
This is a crop of the pic.
ETA: I just realised you meant it was perhaps misread by the computer. I don't think so, but would welcome your opinion on the photo.

Redx

That looks like a C turned into an O using a piece of black tape , by a clone vehicle or scammer , or something similar

Daffodil78

Redx said:

That looks like a C turned into an O using a piece of black tape , by a clone vehicle or scammer , or something similar

So would you ignore it or contact the police?

D_P_Dance

I woild contact Trading Standards, the ATA, and your MP.   

Mickey666

Daffodil78 said:

 It has to have been edited in some way though because his vehicle wasn't there. 

Might be better to focus on this rather than guessing the provenance of the photo.

Can you prove where his vehicle was at the time the photo was taken?

What is the distance between where the car actually was and where the photo was taken?

Cloned number plates are not unknown, though goodness knows how it can be proven from a simple photo.  I find it hard to believe even the parking scammers would resort to photoshopping their photo evidence.  A forensic analysis of the original digital photo file might well be able to determine if it has been edited, but that will likely be expensive not to mention problematic in getting hold of the digital file.

Johnersh

If you can prove it was elsewhere, do. 

I would suggest to them that it looks like someone has just taped up part of their numberplate as it clearly looks abnormal. I would NOT allege fraud unless you can prove it (which it seems clear you cannot). 

They should provide HD images to confirm. It won't require forensics to prove. They will have more than one image. 

Redx

Check the vehicle picture itself , is it the same make , model andd colour as your husband's vehicle ?

If not , report it to the police and also tell the parking company they have a misread or a cloned plate, especially if it's not the same make and colour !!

My brother did the other to Smart parking , the PCN was subsequently cancelled , but in his case it wasn't a cloned plate , but a total misread

But I would also check for POFA compliance or not first , better to have more ammo than just one bullet before accusing

I do not believe that CP plus photoshopped the picture

Daffodil78

Thank you all for the comments, much appreciated.
Having read through them I agree that it is more likely a cloned plate on the vehicle photographed, rather than the company creating false images. This would also explain why I could only find one example of it happening when I Googled it. 
To answer some of the questions above...

• Yes, his employer should be able to prove where his vehicle was. Don't know if they have cameras but they will be able to back my husband up and state his vehicle was there because no one else has the keys and my husband was away overnight in a company vehicle at the time.
• The distance between the photograph and my husband's vehicle was approx 148 miles. my husband was even further away as he is a truck driver.
• The vehicle in the photograph is the same make and model, but we can't tell from the black and white grainy image if it's the same colour. I don't think it is, but I couldn't be sure.

Definitely not going to accuse the company of anything fraudulent as I can now see how easily it could be someone else who has done something wrong. Thank you for the thoughts on this. I'm glad I asked. 
It doesn't appear that the letter is POFA compliant, so I shall keep this info in case needed down the line.
Thanks all