A Solution for the Vehicle Industry’s $200 Million Problem

It was recently reported by NBC 5 that hundreds of thousands of paper e-tags and license plates have been sold by a hidden network of vehicle dealers across North Texas, allowing criminals to remain hidden and impossible to trace.

This leaves hundreds of thousands of untraceable drivers on the streets of Texas and surrounding states. If unable to confidently identify a driver by plate or vehicle information, law enforcement officers are put into dangerous positions. The millions of dollars funneled away from law-abiding car dealerships and agencies are instead siphoned to illegal channels – which in turn funds numerous illicit activities by bad actors.

Travis County Constable Sgt. Jose Escriban took NBC 5 on a ride to show how easy identifying fake e-tags in the vehicle industry on the road can be. The result was alarming. It took only minutes for him to spot a bogus paper buyer’s tag. During the traffic stop, the driver admitted to buying the tag for $80 from someone selling them online. With only minutes needed to find one example, it becomes quiet clear how serious this problem has become for the vehicle industry.

With such a high number of illegal and unidentifiable tags cheating the state and federal government systems, a simple, yet comprehensive solution has been in high demand.

Governments and high-profile companies have scratched their heads on how to best solve this vulnerability. Without a secure solution for temp tags, DMVs will continue to risk lost revenues for government, major issues for police forces, and the opportunity for organized criminals to fraudulently sell motor vehicles or gain anonymous and unauthorized use of our roads. To address the vehicle industry’s estimated $200 million problem, OpSec Security launched SecureETag® – the industry’s only integrated print-on-demand, real-time information temporary tag solution.

“Having visibility of the complete lifecycle of the tags and educating law enforcement about the secure elements in them helps us provide access and visibility.” Genesis Nobrega, OpSec Security Regional Sales Manager says. “Adding security elements to the physical tag so bad actors cannot copy them gives the power back to dealers, DMVs, law enforcement – and most importantly – safety to everyone driving on the roads.”

Learn more about the industry’s only integrated print-on-demand, real-time information temp tag solution and contact us to learn how easy it is for your DMV to get started.