you could do that by looking out into the street or a public car park even! What have I missed?
The ability to easily search by make, model, trim level etc. and find a car matching mine to copy the plates of, potentially years later.
Edit: Beaten to it!
Plus if I select a car at the far end of the country, it’s a lot less likely that I’m going to end up parked next to it making it obvious.
There’s a lot of paranoia about scams etc.
I think the hire car thread shows that one person’s paranoia is another’s sensible precaution, and you don’t generally find out you were wrong until it’s too late. Not saying you’re wrong, but it doesn’t seem too far fetched to be a bit cautious about it.