Florida Department of Transportation Warns of Sunpass Toll Ticket Scam

The Florida Department of Transportation has issued a warning that there is a fake company attempting to collect fines for Sunpass toll violation tickets that don’t actually exist.  The company, called Toll Enforcement LLC has been sending drivers what looks like a ticket claiming that they owe a fine because their Sunpass didn’t register at a tollbooth.  According to the phony ticket, the driver faces loss of their license if they do not pay $57.

According to the DOT, if they sent out a real ticket for the same toll violation, it would have a date, time, and location of the violation along with a picture of your license plate captured by a camera at the tollbooth.  The fake tickets have none of these things.  Also different is the phone number associated with the fake ticket, it is one not associated with the Department of Transportation at all.

If you get one of these tickets, you should contact the Department of Transportation right away.  If, however, you have already paid this ticket, you need to take steps to protect yourself.  If you gave the scammers a credit card to pay the fine, be sure you change your card number immediately and watch your statement carefully.  If you paid via check and it hasn’t been cashed yet, there could be a chance of stopping payment on it, but you would need to check with your bank.

Unfortunately, once the thieves get the money, there could be little you can do to recover it besides disputing any odd charges on your credit card statement.  If the people running this scam are found by police, you could make an attempt to take them to small claims court or otherwise get restitution from the courts.  However, for a $57 loss, it is likely not worth the other fees and hassle of doing this, especially if the chances of actually getting any money from the scammers is slim.

This does not mean that if you get a ticket for a Sunpass violation that you do not pay it.  If the ticket is legitimate and you do not pay it, you could face some serious penalties.  You could end up with a citation being filed against you in court.  That could lead to fines and court fees that would be far higher than the original fine.  If you get one of these tickets, contact the Florida Department of Transportation if you are not sure if it is real so that you can be sure that it is paid promptly.