Our investigation found some of the tags currently offered for sale on Facebook are counterfeits that were never issued out of the TxDMV’s tag system. But the counterfeits contain the names of real car dealers and sometimes even real plate numbers that were issued in the past by other dealers.
Some sellers responded to our messages right away, indicating that they could provide tags in just minutes and take payment via various cash apps.A person offering a paper license tag for sale talks with NBC 5 Investigates through Facebook Messenger. “When they pull it up in the system, they're like, 'Well, that car says it's a Nissan Altima, but the tag is saying it's for a Toyota Camry - that's not lining up,'" Lopez toldDomynyque Lopez, owner of Powerplay Motors, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.
“I mean, if someone goes on there trying to sell drugs, they know how to monitor that. They know how to take down that post. What's the difference?” Lopez asked.