A San Diego woman says she was caught in a frustrating loop after receiving multiple Bay Area FasTrak toll violations for a Mercedes-Benz she says she has never been in.
The Mercedes wasn’t hers, but its temporary license plate number was. The number appearing in photos on the toll violations was the same temporary plate number issued to Martha Sandez Sapp’s new Subaru.
The case has now raised questions about the possible cloning of temporary license plates. Bay Area FasTrak told NBC 7 Responds that it had recently learned of another similar case and planned to take a closer look at disputes involving temporary plates.
Surprise toll violations
Sandez Sapp said the trouble began after she returned home from a vacation in Hawaii and found a Bay Area toll violation waiting for her.
“Obviously it’s my name, it’s my address, but that’s not my car. That was the first thing. I was like, whose car is that?” she recalled asking herself.
Her new car is a Subaru, while the vehicle pictured on the toll violation is a Mercedes-Benz. She disputed the violation but said she was told that FasTrak relies on the license plate captured by its cameras and not on the vehicle that may be pictured…