Capital Beltway Express LLC 495 ExpressLanes Toll billing scam New York New York

Returning from a business trip on May 14, 2013, I drove from New York City to my home in North Carolina along I-95 the entire way. I just received an "Unpaid Toll Invoice" dated September 21, 2013 in the amount of $14.55 from what purports to be a company called 495 ExpressLanes or Capital Beltway Express LLC, based in New York City.

The invoice says that I failed to pay an E-Z Pass toll on May 14, 2013 for a trip on 495 Express Start (Near MD) to Interstate 395-95-495. The toll amount is $2.05, but they added an Administrative Fee of $12.50, purportedly because I failed to pay. The invoice contains a picture that's supposed to be the license plate on the back of my car.

The back side of the invoice says: "We would like to draw to your attention that under Virginia Law (§33.1-56.3 of the Code of Virginia), penalties and charges can be applied to drivers with unpaid tolls, up to and including (among others): A range of escalating administrative fees; A range of escalating court fees and civil penalties, should the matter be referred to court; and suspension of your car registraton by the Department of Motor Vehicles." They also threaten to turn this over to collection, go to court, and that I would be responsible for attorneys fees. In other words, they'd destroy my credit rating.

They do have a place on their web site to dispute a claim, but only if your claim is that another driver was driving your car at the time. The fact that you were never on that road is not considered an excuse. Of course they're glad to accept payment by credit card, PayPal, phone, or by mail. They even offer a $2.50 discount if you pay online by credit card.

This is a blatant scam on its face. First, if this were a legitimate charge for a legitimate toll, the invoice would have been mailed within days of the time the toll was due. Instead, this company delayed mailing an invoice for more than 4 months so they could tack on a $12.50 administrative fee in addition to the toll itself. The admistrative fee is over 6 times the value of the claimed toll!

Second, nobody every discounts payment by credit card. Gasoline stations often charge more per gallon for credit card purchases than for cash because they have to pay the credit card companies a percentage of the sale amount. So what would motivate any company to offer a discount for credit card payment? The answer is that what they're really after is your credit card information...they can steal the card, and if they're really good they can get enough informatino to steal your identity. And it's a no-lose situation for them, because if you choose to pay by PayPal or check, at least they get the money.

Third, the picture of my license plate could easily have been taken with any smart phone camera, put into iPhoto or any picture editing program, and made to look identically fuzzy to their picture. The picture is confined to my license plate and the Hyundai logo on my trunk lid...there's no identifying detail to show where the picture was taken. In fact, I could easily create the whole picture in Photoshop.

Fourth, legitimate companies never threaten collections, court actions, destruction of your credit rating, escalating fees, attorneys fees, court actions, suspension of car registrations in their very first contact. Only scammers do that because they're trying to intimidate you into paying.

I have filed a "dispute" on their web site calling this a blatant scam, telling them I was never on the road they claim, that I never passed through any E-Z Pass lanes at toll plazas, and paid all the legitimate tolls by cash (with receipts of course, since this was a business trip...its the only way I could be reimbursed).