Texas' Plan To Stop Fake License Plates Isn't Working As Intended

Since the beginning of July 2025, most Texas temporary paper license plates have been replaced by new metal plates with colored stripes to indicate their purpose. This was done to help prevent fraud (paper tags are easier to counterfeit) and help law enforcement with traffic patrols. Dealership-owned vehicles being used for business purposes now get tags with light blue markings, out-of-state buyers get plates with green accents, and red and purple markings go on temporary or provisional metal tags. All of these colored markings are on the sides and bottom edges of Texas' regular plate design, which is black numbers and letters on a plain white background. The state's law enforcement agencies and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hoped the change to metal plates would cut down on license plate fraud, but Fox 7 Austin is one of many media outlets that has since quoted law enforcement personnel discussing the issue. Capt. Howard Stinehour of the Burnet County Sheriff's Department said "It causes problems with our license plate reader systems, toll roads, all kinds of things." Grand Prairie Police Chief Daniel Scesney was part of the push to ban paper tags, telling KTVT (CBS 11 in Fort Worth), "If you've got a computer and a printer at home you can make a Texas paper tag."

Sgt. José Escribano of the Travis County Constable's Offfice said he thought the new law actually encouraged more crime. He told KXAN,  "If I'm a crook, why would I want to go ahead and order one, pay it, this, that, and the other, when I can just go ahead and steal one?" Just three months after the law went into effect, NBC 5 in Dallas-Fort Worth reported on a traffic stop in Harris County where a driver had made their own red-trimmed temporary metal tag. They used a stolen plate as the base and covered it with a vinyl wrap-style adhesive designed to look like a legitimate plate.

House Bill 718 was passed back in 2023 with a long delay before going into effect; this was so dealerships and residents could have time to adapt to the new procedures. It's not new for criminals to use stolen plates to try and confuse law enforcement, and the tactic can be a big problem for used car shoppers.

their relatively simple design makes Texas plates easy to spoof, and plates can be stolen just by skulking around a parking lot with a screwdriver and a lookout. Some criminals just repaint the back of a stolen plate, stick on some letters, and use it on another car. Others will just put a stolen plate on a stolen car and put it up for sale. Always check for these mechanical problems before buying a used car, and do what you can to verify the car's registration and title information as well.

If you're not careful you could end up buying a car with an outstanding loan or one that was stolen and never recovered. Some bad actors even provide a counterfeit title; you can go with the seller to a DMV office to make sure their paperwork is legitimate. Captain Stinehour advised buyers to meet sellers in a police station parking lot and research any potential purchase using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).