Law enforcement seeing increased use of fake temporary plates in Colorado

In Colorado, the number of vehicles on the road with expired license plates or expired temporary plates is a problem.

"There's just a sense of unfairness to it," driver Robert Biggers said.

"We all have to pay for our stickers every year. You know, we all do it, so it's a part of owning a vehicle," another driver, Kaleigh Reynolds said.

While police in some areas are cracking down, a rise in counterfeit plates has added a new hurdle.

"People are able to find them unfortunately online, where they're purchasing them from different avenues and then attaching to the vehicle some may even try and print them off at home," Reynolds said.

Trooper Gabriel Moltrer with the Colorado State Patrol says there's no way of knowing how many fake plates are on the road, but he says they are catching a growing number of offenders every year.

In 2022, they issued 900 citations for displaying a fictitious plate. In 2023, that number jumped to more than 1,000. And less than halfway through 2024, 589 drivers have already been hit with that ticket.

Law enforcement will confiscate the fake plates, but the citation is one that comes with a summons to appear in court, and often offenders end up on the road again.

"If the car belongs to them, we may leave them with the car. In extreme circumstances, that car may be towed or left on the side of the road. Different circumstances may dictate different responses," Moltrer said.

Colorado's Division of Motor Vehicles is also aware of the issue. Darin Icardi is an investigator with the state office and says the increase can be linked back to the pandemic.

"We did see those continuing and maybe even increasing. We can't make a direct correlation, but it certainly seems like that," he said.

Icardi says some might not understand the online ads are a scam and warns against making any online purchase.

"Get your temp tag at a DMV office or an automobile dealership," he said.

For those trying to skirt the fees, he says the cost will catch up with you. In the meantime, those fake plates are costing everyone else.

"You shouldn't like try to cheat the system, and it just makes things more expensive for us -- the people who do pay for these things," Reynolds said.

According to Colorado State Patrol, the counties with the highest number of citations are El Paso County,  Adams County and Douglas County.