Spambots are getting more stupid

[mjr]

To piggyback off of what Jester said, in the Dallas, TX area, they now have variable pricing on the toll roads. It's actually more expensive the more people drive on them at once. Sometimes it's as high as $2.50 per booth during rush hour.

And there was recently an article in one of the Dallas papers about some guy who had several thousand in "tolls" that he owed, but most of it was that for each "infraction" they charged him $25. That pesky "administration fee" that Jester talked about.

So each toll was then something like $26.50. Times however many.

The interesting thing is, you don't have to have a toll tag to drive on the toll roads in Dallas. They just send you an invoice after a certain amount of time, I think.

[wolfie]

U.S. Customs uses the decal-type. For cross-border commercial trucks, there's a fee for entering the U.S., which can be paid at the border on a per-trip basis (around $10), or you can get the transponder and pay on a per-year basis (I believe it's around $300). Needless to say, frequent crossers have the transponders.

[klhanson]

You're supposed to keep a transponder yes.. but i know people that have just blown through there and not had one.. i'm sure a lot of people actually do.. Though they do take a picture of your license plate and catch you at it

[sms001]

I'm in FIBland maybe once a year, so I just hand cash to the attendant. It makes no sense for me to get the transponder.

We already had one when we moved up here, so we kept it and keep a few bucks in it; makes visiting the M-i-L a little quicker, but you're right, I don't think we'd get one new at this point.

jester - the IPass works like your transponder one - I'd never heard of the decal type; that's interesting. I think you have to go online and punch in some license numbers if you want to switch them between vehicles though. Probably keeps theft of them down?

[Jester]

You're supposed to buy a transponder and keep it in your vehicle to use that lane. The money must come out of your bank account.

I suppose it could come out of your bank account. Down here in Floriduh, they do it a bit differently with their Sun Pass. First, there are two style units you can buy (or there were when I bought mine a few years ago; things may have changed). The regular unit which is about the size of a radar detector or large smart phone, which can be used in any vehicle you want, be it yours or a rental or a frind's (though the account is still yours), and thus can be transferred from your old vehicle to a new purchase. The other unit is a credit card sized sticker you stick to your windshield (I have mine up in front of the center rear view mirror), and which is not transferable; whatever vehicle you asking it to, that's the only one it works for. If you sell the vehicle, you need to cancel that account.

And the account is similar to a rechargeable credit card or phone card; you can add money as you see fit. You can set it up to add a certain amount each month automatically, but as I live in the Keys and the Sun Pass roads are only on the mainland, this makes no sense for me to do. So whenever I drive up north, I check my balance and add some money on to it as needed, depending on where in Floriduh I'm heading. And whenever the Jestermobile passes a Sun Pass toll station, it automatically deducts the appropriate amount from my Sun Pass account. If the account drops below zero or someone in a car without a Sun Pass drives through such a toll station, the license plate camera is triggered, and they are billed via the aforementioned "Pay by Plate" method. In the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas, there are no longer any actual cash toll booths. I have no idea if the northern stretch of the Florida Turnpike has likewise been converted to no cash, or if they still operate on the "grab a ticket at one point and pay at your exit point" system, as I've not been on that portion of the Turnpike since before they converted the southern toll roads to full auto.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

In Illinois they have open road tolling now.. There aren't your typical toll booths, instead you just drive under sensors that are over the interstate. They have signs posted saying "Forgot to pay your toll? go to blahblahblah.blah to pay"

You're supposed to buy a transponder and keep it in your vehicle to use that lane. The money must come out of your bank account.

I'm in FIBland maybe once a year, so I just hand cash to the attendant. It makes no sense for me to get the transponder.

[klhanson]

In Illinois they have open road tolling now.. There aren't your typical toll booths, instead you just drive under sensors that are over the interstate. They have signs posted saying "Forgot to pay your toll? go to blahblahblah.blah to pay"

[dalesys]

What? No. Impossible. As we all know, people everywhere are far too intelligent to fall for such idiotic scams.

Yes PT.

This way to the egress, folks...

[Jester]

Amusingly, I got the very same email today as the OP originally posted about.

Ignored it like it was a Justin Bieber fan.

Fair enough. I haven't been on any toll roads or bridges since we visited New York 15 years ago. I should have figured that other states might do things a little differently. (I don't think they have any in Oregon, at least not as far as I know. Could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.)

To be fair, toll roads are far more prevalent in the East, and even more so in the Northeast. Not generally a huge thing out West.

Well, remember, they wouldn't do it, if they didn't make money from it.....

So, somewhere, out there, are people who fall for it.......

What? No. Impossible. As we all know, people everywhere are far too intelligent to fall for such idiotic scams.

[Argabarga]

Well, remember, they wouldn't do it, if they didn't make money from it.....

So, somewhere, out there, are people who fall for it.......

[Lace Neil Singer]

Even so, it's unlikely that I've been caught driving on a toll road in America, given the circumstances. XD

Last year, I even got a Nigerian businessman spam email; I loled. I didn't think those existed any more, and that they were just a meme now. XD A friend of mine emailed them back, suggesting that it would be easier if they sent him their bank details; strangely, he never heard anything back.

[XCashier]

Not so fast, my friend. Because this kind of stuff does exist.

Fair enough. I haven't been on any toll roads or bridges since we visited New York 15 years ago. I should have figured that other states might do things a little differently. (I don't think they have any in Oregon, at least not as far as I know. Could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.)

[EricKei]

Stupid or not, it's still more coherent than the ones who show up 'round these parts. Well, you guys don't get to see them and bask in their incomprehensible-grammar glory, but that is intentional on our part

As for toll passes...? We didn't have many toll roads in southern Luuuuziana, but we do have a few that do the "license plate snapshot" thing. They were implemented after the government down that way realized that that vast majority of people simply weren't paying the toll at all (no manned booths at all, just the honor system). And much wailing and gnashing of teeth was to be had. On the upside, they are now making enough money from tolls actually being paid to actually make a dent in with the swamp-bridge maintenance costs

[Deserted]

Yeah, but I'd like to think they'd phrase any dunning letter better than what Lace Neil Singer got...

[Jester]

IIRC, here in America, you have to pay the toll on a toll road or bridge at the booth at the entrance. You don't pay, you don't get through. You try to crash the gate, there are cameras and the cops will be all over you like ugly on a cockroach.

So no, you don't get to mail in your payment nor do you get unprofessionally-written letters demanding payment. Letter writer is A Speshul Kind of Stoopid™.

Not so fast, my friend. Because this kind of stuff does exist.

Let me welcome you to the very Speshul State of Floriduh. In Floriduh, we have toll roads. It used to be that in said toll roads in Floriduh, you'd either pay tolls at various toll booths, or you'd have a special Sun Pass and fly through other specially designed toll booths that would have the ability to record your passage and take the appropriate amount off of your Sun Pass account. A few years ago, Floriduh changed things. There are no longer the old-fashioned toll booths where you stop and pay. You either have a Sun Pass or you get to participate in their new game that they call Pay By Plate. In Pay By Plate, drivers without Sun Pass drive said toll roads and when they go through the toll booths, a speed camera snaps their picture, and the state sends a bill to the owner of the car's license plate, for the amount of the toll and an "administrative fee."

Trust me when I say it's better to have Sun Pass. I live in the Keys, where we have no toll roads, but even I have Sun Pass for the few times I venture to the mainland, because Pay By Plate is fucking expensive, not to mention a royal pain in the ass. Because if you don't pay that bill they send you, they add on to it, and it just gets ridiculous.

Welcome to Floriduh!