When I was on the campaign trail for Chautauqua County Clerk, the news stories about possible wrongdoing at our county DMV locations were impossible to miss.

County residents were receiving toll charges, in some cases thousands of dollars, for tolls and speeding infractions on license plates they’d surrendered to one of our DMVs. This was a terrible situation for the victims spending countless hours fighting fines and fees they weren’t responsible for. When I was elected, tackling this issue became my top priority.

After taking office Jan. 1, I visited all three county DMV locations to ensure license plate destruction procedures were in compliance with NYS DMV guidance. I reviewed all fraudulent toll and fine cases reported to our office, along with correspondence with NYS DMV officials. Additionally, I contacted neighboring County Clerks to see if they were having similar problems.

Using all the resources at my disposal, this is what I found: From 2023 to 2025 there were 41,371 sets of plates surrendered to our three DMV locations collectively. Over that same period we received 30 to 40 reports of fines and fees for plates surrendered to our DMVs. In lesser numbers, fraudulent tolls were reported for plates still assigned to county motorists. When we traced the plate surrenders back to the cashiers who executed the transactions, there was no identifiable pattern. Fraudulent tolls were received for plates surrendered at all three DMV locations, and to multiple cashiers.

One issue identified last fall by an investigator from the NYS DMV field office was a compliance discrepancy in our plate destruction procedure. To be in compliance, plate destruction is supposed to be executed or supervised by a DMV employee before final disposal to salvage. With our updated procedure, we took it a step further than simply having a DMV employee supervise destruction. In Chautauqua County the DMV employee who receives the surrendered plate from the customer personally destroys the plate at the end of their shift. This new procedure completely eliminates any ambiguity in the chain of custody. Under the old procedure the surrendered plates were stored at the DMV, collected by a county courier, and then taken to the county correctional facility where a prisoner work detail destroyed the plates under the supervision of a Corrections Officer. Though the obsolete procedure was out of compliance, it was most likely not the cause of the fraudulent tolls for surrendered plates. The old process was in place for years prior to any reports of fraudulent tolls being charged to county residents.

When I reached out to fellow County Clerks throughout the state, their responses were universal. “Greg, we’re all dealing with the same thing.” When Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology for tolling became common, so did license plate fraud. Not all, but the majority of fraudulent tolls reported to this office came from New York City. Congestion pricing is utilized in some areas of the city to reduce traffic, and during peak hours this can add as much as $21.60 to a single toll charge. In cases where a plate fraud victim receives repeated toll charges, the most likely cause is an intentionally altered or duplicated plate, sometimes called a “Ghost Plate.” This tactic is employed by dishonest people to avoid toll charges. Unfortunately, these deceptive practices yield license plate letter and numbers combinations matching plates previously or currently assigned to the victims receiving the charges.

To make matters worse, the high volume of toll fraudsters create challenges for the city to respond in a timely manner to the victims. In cases where there is a one-time charge, it is typically an isolated plate reader error.

At this point, no singular approach will completely resolve this issue. At our county DMVs we’ve tightened up our plate destruction procedures, surpassing the NYS DMV compliance requirements.

I’ve put out a guidance letter on disputing fraudulent tolls. This is available at any of our DMV locations, and on our governmental County Clerk Facebook page. In the guidance provided, I included my direct office line, and an invitation for constituents to contact me directly if they’re having difficulties disputing a fraudulent toll. Numerous constituents have already taken me up on this offer, and I’ve provided one-on-one assistance in their cases.

After a thorough review of all available evidence, I have complete faith and confidence my DMV staff is not involved in any criminal activity with license plates surrendered at our DMVs.

State Sen. George Borrello has introduced legislation in Albany to strengthen penalties for license plate fraud. I commend his efforts, and strongly support his proposed legislation. I’ve volunteered for the New York State Association of County Clerk’s DMV Committee to advocate for positive reform in this area. I encourage any county resident dealing with license plate fraud to contact me directly in my office at 716-753-4975.

Gregory Carlson is the Chautauqua County clerk.