WELD COUNTY, Colo. — It might be just a couple of days after Halloween, but the spirit of the holiday still haunts Colorado’s toll lanes in the form of “ghost cars.”
On Tuesday, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to drivers about a scam involving “ghost cars” that use duplicated license plates.
According to the sheriff’s office, fraudsters copy valid permanent plates and place them on out-of-state vehicles, resulting in toll violations being billed to the rightful owner of the plates.
“We haven't seen cases like this,” Melissa Chesmore with the Weld County Sheriff's Office told Denver7 anchor Jessica Porter.
The sheriff's office said a recent victim in Weld County received toll bills from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
“This was actually a hard temp tag that was duplicated,” said Chesmore. “This person has not left the state, and their tag is not stolen.”
A similar scheme with temporary tags was reported in New York, where one victim received a $600 toll bill sent to collections.
If this happens to you, file a report with local police and notify the Department of Motor Vehicles. Those documents can then be used to dispute the toll company's fees.
Law enforcement is unsure how the license plates are being duplicated.
Weld County said it has not seen a lot of cases in its jurisdiction, but deputies want to warn the public to raise awareness.
Denver7 reached out to the E470 Public Highway Authority, which oversees toll roads in Colorado. A spokesperson issued a statement, saying every license plate image is reviewed for clarity and accuracy before billing. If the information does not match, the case is escalated, and the disputed transactions can be removed, according to the spokesperson.
- Read the full statement below
"At E470, every license plate image is reviewed for clarity and accuracy before billing. Our system checks that the plate matches the character limits and formatting for that state, and certain plate types that cannot be verified are automatically rejected. When a customer believes a toll was billed in error, our team reviews the image, DMV data, and vehicle details to confirm the match. If the information doesn’t align, the case is escalated and the disputed transactions can be removed. Confirmed fraudulent or cloned plates are documented and added to an internal list for future review, where they are managed on a case-by-case basis. Our goal is to ensure accurate tolling, support roadway safety, and protect drivers from incorrect charges."
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