Stella Fisher traded in her 1999 Mercedes and moved her personalized ART LIFE license plate to her new car, figuring that was the end of that. Two months later, speeding tickets and toll bills started showing up in her mailbox — for the Mercedes she no longer owned.
Fisher, who lives in Ross, California, discovered that another driver had slapped a paper counterfeit copy of her ART LIFE plate onto her old Mercedes, according to ABC7 News. The impostor plate turned up on Oakland speed cameras four times, caught speeding on 7th Street and Hegenberger Road, and driving through Alvarado Niles. FasTrak also recorded the counterfeit-plated car at dozens of Bay Area toll crossings and billed Fisher for every one of them.
The Dispute Started With a Plate Number
The problem, according to ABC7 News, comes down to a blind spot in the technology itself: traffic cameras can read the numbers and letters on a license plate, but they cannot detect that the plate itself is a fake. So long as the copied plate matched Fisher's real one, the system had no way of flagging the mismatch between the plate and the actual car driving around town.
The charges totaled $224. Fisher said she risked being unable to register her own car if she did not pay, so she had to dispute the speeding tickets and tolls separately.
Why the Dispute Was Difficult to Resolve
ABC7 reported that a DMV investigation confirmed the plate appeared to be counterfeit and that Oakland authorities separately identified it as a paper replica. But a DMV letter to Fisher said the plate had not been issued by the agency, so the DMV could not investigate or take further action. Officials told her relief was unlikely unless an officer stopped the vehicle.
Fisher's husband, Wynn Hoag, told ABC7 that the couple initially did not realize the mystery car's plate was not real. As ABC7 reported, law enforcement can stop the vehicle while it is being driven; officers can cite the driver or tow the car if it is using a fake dealer plate, which is a towable misdemeanor offense. DMV investigators can also issue a citation if they find the vehicle parked on a public street. Until one of those actions occurs, however, notices may continue to arrive.
A Dealer's License Gets Pulled
Naz Motors of Pleasant Hill had bought Fisher's car. The DMV said it had no evidence the dealership put the fake dealer plate on the car and did not know whether the car was later sold or someone else added the plate. ABC7's 7 On Your Side team reported that Naz Motors did not respond to its calls or messages. The DMV revoked and canceled the dealership's dealer license, suspending it from doing business in California.
After 7 On Your Side became involved, Oakland dismissed Fisher's speeding tickets, and FasTrak reversed the toll charges after the plate was shown not to match the car. Her case was resolved, but only after the notices had required her to challenge the charges and media intervention followed.
A Similar Ordeal Played Out With a San Diego Driver
A San Diego woman, Martha Sandez Sapp, went through a strikingly similar ordeal after she began receiving Bay Area FasTrak violations for a Mercedes-Benz she'd never driven, according to NBC San Diego. Her own car was a Subaru, but the temporary plate number on the Mercedes pictured in the toll violations matched the one issued to her vehicle. Bay Area FasTrak told the station it was the second reported instance that week involving alleged improper use of a cloned temporary plate for toll or Express Lane transactions.
Investigators in that case said the circumstances likely meant someone had manufactured a false plate specifically to avoid paying tolls. Sandez Sapp was ultimately able to get her toll violations dismissed on her own, and the California DMV has advised any driver who suspects their temporary plate has been cloned to report it to local law enforcement.
What FasTrak Says the Rules Require
Under the toll agency's own published policy, when a vehicle crosses a bridge without a valid FasTrak or License Plate Account, an image of the license plate is captured and an invoice is mailed to the vehicle's registered owner. For express lanes, a violation notice goes out to the registered owner within 21 days of the toll violation if the vehicle lacks a valid account, according to Bay Area FasTrak. The agency also states that failing to pay an established toll is a violation of California's toll-evasion statutes — rules built around the assumption that the plate on file actually belongs to the car crossing the toll point, an assumption that broke down for both Fisher and Sandez Sapp.
If a Plate or Notice Appears to Be Wrong
For suspected temporary-plate cloning, the California DMV advised drivers in the San Diego case to report it to local law enforcement. For toll disputes, FasTrak’s statewide FAQ says issuing agencies may have different rules and directs drivers to consult the relevant agency’s guidelines. Fisher’s experience also involved separate challenges to her speeding tickets and toll charges; it does not establish one statewide procedure for contesting every kind of notice.
