EZ Pass Fraud - how did they do it?

[coppertop]

I haven't been on any toll roads or indeed out of the state in over a month - and was surprised to see when checking my credit card info on line that EZ Pass automatically replenished my account.  Went on line with EZ Pass to see that someone used our account several states away a few days ago.  This is a state I have not visited in probably five years.  I initiated a dispute with EZ Pass and am waiting to hear back...but I have to wonder; how in the world did this happen? 

Coincidentally - or maybe not - I also had someone use a nonexistent debit card a few days ago to take money out of my checking account.  Based on the dollar amount, I am guessing that this was a 'test' transaction to see if they could get away with it.  Ugh.

[reeshau]

Did you just get your car, or switch plates?  Mr. Google came up with an article about duplicate paper plates.

https://abc7ny.com/ez-pass-fine-ghost-cars-fake/12297622/

Are you sure they used a debit card?  A few years ago, someone had just entered my checking account info into a bunch of bill pay locations.  Pretty dumb, since they did things like pay off cable.  (Which of course, has a location)  It was a mess, as it happened just before the holidays, when I also do a lot of my charity giving.  The bank reimbursed me, but I never knew if they got caught, because the sheriff's department closed the case, because I no longer had losses.  (Time isn't a loss??  Identity theft?)  I do not write a lot of checks, but I do prefer to use them for things like when I have a repair person out to the house.  I would guess someone just read the info off a real check.

[dragoncar]

More likely it’s some kind of mistake than fraud.  Ezpass fraud has very limited upside and they take photos constantly. 

If someone had the knowledge to pull it off there’s probably way more lucrative opportunities out there

[dcheesi]

More likely it’s some kind of mistake than fraud.  Ezpass fraud has very limited upside and they take photos constantly. 

If someone had the knowledge to pull it off there’s probably way more lucrative opportunities out there

Maryland has gone to "pay by plate" on some tolls; if you don't have an EZ-pass, then they snap a photo/video of your plate and mail you a bill. And I think if your plate is associated with your EZ-pass, it's possible for it to be applied to your account there.

So perhaps either someone has the same plate number, but a different state, or else a very similar plate number and the OCR messed up?

[TomTX]

So perhaps either someone has the same plate number, but a different state, or else a very similar plate number and the OCR messed up?

I had one of those. Someone in the Dallas area had a very similar plate. Identical except for an "R" instead of a "P" - fortunately, very different vehicle. It was a hassle - I'd get bills from the NTTA every couple of months, call up to dispute, they looked at the photo and agreed it was bad OCR... and then a couple of months later it happened again.

[Ron Scott]

There are paper plate stories (Ghost Cars) and there’s the possibility of transponder cloning.

As I understand it, transponder cloners use a device called a "skimmer" to read the information from an EZPass transponder. Once they have the information, they can use it to create a cloned transponder. The cloned transponder can then be used to travel through toll booths without paying.

Gotta love the digital world!

[coppertop]

Thanks for your replies.  I am told I have to submit a form and that I will be reimbursed for the charges in question.  There are so many benefits to all things digital; but there are downsides too!

[Ron Scott]

Thanks for your replies.  I am told I have to submit a form and that I will be reimbursed for the charges in question.  There are so many benefits to all things digital; but there are downsides too!

What happened to “we are sorry, sir, we’ll take care of it.“?

[dcheesi]

Thanks for your replies.  I am told I have to submit a form and that I will be reimbursed for the charges in question.  There are so many benefits to all things digital; but there are downsides too!

What happened to “we are sorry, sir, we’ll take care of it.“?

IME that's never been a thing when a government (or other monopoly) is involved.

[wageslave23]

Thanks for your replies.  I am told I have to submit a form and that I will be reimbursed for the charges in question.  There are so many benefits to all things digital; but there are downsides too!

What happened to “we are sorry, sir, we’ll take care of it.“?

IME that's never been a thing when a government (or other monopoly) is involved.

Yeah we're here to serve the government and public entities, not the other way around.

[coppertop]

Not only do I have to submit a form; I have to print a copy of the transactions(s) and highlight them and send with the form.  It also appears I can't do it on line; I have to either fax or snail mail the whole shebang to them.  Bizarre.

[sonofsven]

My anecdote on my first experience with this kind of tolling is funny.
I was traveling over Lake Washington for the first time in decades, and found there was no more toll booth, and assumed I would receive the toll invoice in the mail.
Two weeks go by and I didn't receive it.
I go out of town for a month or so and when I get back I found the bill in the mail: $3 or so, cheap!
I write a check and put it in the mail.
A day or two later I get a letter: non payment of toll, now I owe late fees, etc.
I try calling, busy signal.
I get another bill and try calling again a week later and get put on the endless auto hold, I decide to just put my phone on speaker and wait for someone to pick up as I'm at work building a house.
My phone is on hold, canned music and everything, for over two hours when the music stops and I hear a female voice saying "Hello?"
I rush to pick up and express my amazement that I had been on hold for over two hours.
I quickly explain the simple situation when I'm interrupted: "I'm sorry, the fire alarm is going off and we're being told to evacuate the building!"
And that was the end of the call!
She did remove all the late fees though, and the threatening letters stopped.

[coppertop]

Two hours!  And to think I complained about being on hold for 20 minutes last week with my primary care office!

[snic]

Two hours!  And to think I complained about being on hold for 20 minutes last week with my primary care office!

Fire your doctor, and I don't mean FIRE.

[cleverscreenname]

Maryland has gone to "pay by plate" on some tolls; if you don't have an EZ-pass, then they snap a photo/video of your plate and mail you a bill. And I think if your plate is associated with your EZ-pass, it's possible for it to be applied to your account there.

New York has it, and the mailed bill includes a black and white picture of your car and license plate, I like that, makes it pretty hard to argue haha. I DON'T like the $2.00 charge for every toll bill they mail you! And they do prevent you from paying a toll online without first mailing toll bill, I've tried... (each bill has a bill number and you can't make a payment without the correct number, it says "no tolls found")

[cleverscreenname]

Two hours!  And to think I complained about being on hold for 20 minutes last week with my primary care office!

They do it on purpose, I've encountered this with other businesses as well, deliberately waiting at least an hour before answering, even when you know it's not busy. A good hint is when you call and the first thing the computer lies about is "we are experiencing extremely high call volume, did you know you can visit us online?" DUH of course I know, I tried in vain to fix the problem online before I subjected myself to your phone-tree-hell. And their "music" and hold-advertisements are always much louder than the quiet customer rep so you can easily miss someone actually picking up, and they only give you a few seconds of Hello? before CLICK!

Live Chat has been a huge improvement around this, for a few years... Now we've got moron companies whose "live chat" is a bot that tries to filter your issue into one of the only 6 questions it knows from the FAQ that's completely unhelpful. I know your outsourced live chat agents are much cheaper than manning actual telephone lines, so stop shooting yourselves in the foot.

[dcheesi]

Maryland has gone to "pay by plate" on some tolls; if you don't have an EZ-pass, then they snap a photo/video of your plate and mail you a bill. And I think if your plate is associated with your EZ-pass, it's possible for it to be applied to your account there.

New York has it, and the mailed bill includes a black and white picture of your car and license plate, I like that, makes it pretty hard to argue haha. I DON'T like the $2.00 charge for every toll bill they mail you! And they do prevent you from paying a toll online without first mailing toll bill, I've tried... (each bill has a bill number and you can't make a payment without the correct number, it says "no tolls found")

California lets you put a payment plan in place prior to invoicing. For one-time payments (e.g., rental car) you have 48 hours after a toll to set up a payment method and time period to cover (so you only have to do it once per trip).

Of course, I've yet to see actual charges (just got back from a trip), so we'll see how well it works...

[cleverscreenname]

That sounds like an intelligent setup, let us know what your bill looks like when you get it!

[ATtiny85]

Maryland has gone to "pay by plate" on some tolls; if you don't have an EZ-pass, then they snap a photo/video of your plate and mail you a bill. And I think if your plate is associated with your EZ-pass, it's possible for it to be applied to your account there.

New York has it, and the mailed bill includes a black and white picture of your car and license plate, I like that, makes it pretty hard to argue haha. I DON'T like the $2.00 charge for every toll bill they mail you! And they do prevent you from paying a toll online without first mailing toll bill, I've tried... (each bill has a bill number and you can't make a payment without the correct number, it says "no tolls found")

California lets you put a payment plan in place prior to invoicing. For one-time payments (e.g., rental car) you have 48 hours after a toll to set up a payment method and time period to cover (so you only have to do it once per trip).

Of course, I've yet to see actual charges (just got back from a trip), so we'll see how well it works...

I had a partial failure with California last month. I put in a plan the evening after hitting a toll road that was unplanned (later tolls were expected). However, the rental agency already had plate pass or some sort of system that was active for the plate (not an on-board transponder). That system already hit the rental car company with the toll before I put in with the toll agency that night.

It baffled the toll company, and I don’t think they ever realized what the problem was, and I spent a lot of time on the phone and sending documents to them.

So the 48 hour prior window did not work in this case, though in the past it always did, and the tolls after were fine. So now I will be prepared to enter a payment plan as soon as I have the plate number, before even leaving the garage.

[cleverscreenname]

Yep, and the rental companies add a hefty fee when they pass the toll onto you. How much was yours? People often rent for long distance and intend on traveling toll roads, so it sucks to discourage that with such ridiculous fees.

[ATtiny85]

Yep, and the rental companies add a hefty fee when they pass the toll onto you. How much was yours? People often rent for long distance and intend on traveling toll roads, so it sucks to discourage that with such ridiculous fees.

It was under $20, which my company paid. I do understand there is some overhead for them, but still.

[Ron Scott]

Yep, and the rental companies add a hefty fee when they pass the toll onto you. How much was yours? People often rent for long distance and intend on traveling toll roads, so it sucks to discourage that with such ridiculous fees.

It was under $20, which my company paid. I do understand there is some overhead for them, but still.

I hate being gouged as much as the next guy but I am sympathetic to the argument that costs are real and are either borne by those who benefit or subsidized by the rest of us. When I am forced to subsidize others I feel gouged.

[dragoncar]

Yep, and the rental companies add a hefty fee when they pass the toll onto you. How much was yours? People often rent for long distance and intend on traveling toll roads, so it sucks to discourage that with such ridiculous fees.

It was under $20, which my company paid. I do understand there is some overhead for them, but still.

I hate being gouged as much as the next guy but I am sympathetic to the argument that costs are real and are either borne by those who benefit or subsidized by the rest of us. When I am forced to subsidize others I feel gouged.

I recently got a whopping $4 settlement for rental car toll pass shenanigans!  I actually don't think it affected me since I had bought my own toll pass and still came out ahead

[dcheesi]

Maryland has gone to "pay by plate" on some tolls; if you don't have an EZ-pass, then they snap a photo/video of your plate and mail you a bill. And I think if your plate is associated with your EZ-pass, it's possible for it to be applied to your account there.

New York has it, and the mailed bill includes a black and white picture of your car and license plate, I like that, makes it pretty hard to argue haha. I DON'T like the $2.00 charge for every toll bill they mail you! And they do prevent you from paying a toll online without first mailing toll bill, I've tried... (each bill has a bill number and you can't make a payment without the correct number, it says "no tolls found")

California lets you put a payment plan in place prior to invoicing. For one-time payments (e.g., rental car) you have 48 hours after a toll to set up a payment method and time period to cover (so you only have to do it once per trip).

Of course, I've yet to see actual charges (just got back from a trip), so we'll see how well it works...

I had a partial failure with California last month. I put in a plan the evening after hitting a toll road that was unplanned (later tolls were expected). However, the rental agency already had plate pass or some sort of system that was active for the plate (not an on-board transponder). That system already hit the rental car company with the toll before I put in with the toll agency that night.

It baffled the toll company, and I don’t think they ever realized what the problem was, and I spent a lot of time on the phone and sending documents to them.

So the 48 hour prior window did not work in this case, though in the past it always did, and the tolls after were fine. So now I will be prepared to enter a payment plan as soon as I have the plate number, before even leaving the garage.

In our case the rental agent asked if we wanted their toll plan, but it was like $75 up front. Since we were only going to go through one set of tolls in our travels (side trip to Napa), he clued us in about the 48-hour thing and didn't activate the company plan.

[Dicey]

Another nice thing in CA is that it's easy to ass a vehicle to your account. When Deborah visited last year in a rental car, we just added her to our account until she was done with the car. Easy to add, easy to remove.

Related: I sold my sister a car that was on my toll account. I kept it on for a year and then informed her that I was going to remove it. She was not happy. Apparently she thought the car came with a permanent toll pass. Nope. To be fair, she doesn't trigger very many tolls, but she seriously expected me to pay her tolls in perpetuity. Uh-uh.

[dragoncar]

Another nice thing in CA is that it's easy to ass a vehicle to your account.

Mmmm..... yeahhhh.

Sometimes I wonder why I even keep the toll tag around since I can just get billed by plate

[Dicey]

Another nice thing in CA is that it's easy to ass a vehicle to your account.

Mmmm..... yeahhhh.

Sometimes I wonder why I even keep the toll tag around since I can just get billed by plate

Touche. Stet.