Be your neighborhood's license plate snitch for profit?

It's true. Those souls that spent the majority of their elementary-school education ratting out their classmates to the teacher may have finally found a new way to be a pain make some money. Several new websites have recently started up, all encouraging people to record license plate numbers they see in their area. The more plates they pull down and enter into the sites, the more cash they make – at least theoretically.

Why would anyone want a boatload of license plate numbers? It depends on the site, but the majority of the operations, including Narc That Car, are pointed toward giving repo companies up-to-date information on where delinquent borrowers are keeping their vehicles. So if your neighbor is behind on his car payment and you turn in their license plate number, they may be asking you for a ride to work before too long.

Of course, not all of the plate-collecting sites are designed to out people down on their luck. Others, like Data Network Associates, hope to use the information gathered by users to help police quickly locate vehicles during an Amber Alert – a noble cause, even if the way the information is gather is slightly below board.

There may be some reason to take pause, though. Most of the sites pay very little per each plate, but hand out more cash if users help sign up friends and family. If you're starting to think this sounds an awful lot like a Bluth Company special, you're not alone. The Better Business Bureau is already taking a hard look at a number of the sites in question, including Narc That Car. When push comes to shove, it pays to remember that what seems too good to be true typically is.

[Sources: Narc That Car, Data Network Associates, Red Tape | Image: The Altered Art Store]

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