JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A fraud alert involves scammers that claim to be from the state's toll system, sending out fake notices to people claiming they owe money on an unpaid toll.
Kristi Kluba, a St. Johns County woman, said she received one of those letters in the mail from a company supposedly called "Toll Enforcement."
The note said she failed to pay a $7 toll fine and her penalty was to pay $57 due immediately only through cashier's check or money order.
"I think a lot of people would just be tempted to say, 'Ah, let me just pay this,'" said Kluba.
But Kluba decided to dig deeper into the information on the notice.
"My husband called on Monday morning to the offices that were listed on there and neither of the phone numbers actually worked," said Kluba. "That led us to believe that it was fraud."
The Florida Turnpike said the note is a sham. Chad Huff, a spokesperson for the Florida Turnpike, said state officials found out about the fake letters Monday after receiving calls into their Sun pass call center.
Huff said the letters have been popping up all over Florida and the Turnpike posted a warning to its website. Huff explained what a legitimate notice would look like.
"There's always a specific time of day stamp and location stamp on the invoice itself, so it will tell you when and where the transaction took place," said Huff. "Aside from that there will be Florida Turnpike, FDOT, Sun Pass logos all over the document, as well as a phone number that you can call and actually connect to an actually FDOT office."
So far the Florida Turnpike said it hasn't heard of anyone falling for the scam.
Anyone who receives the notice should call Sun Pass customer service at 888-865-5352. The organization said they are reporting the incidents to local law enforcement agencies to investigate.