Toronto man discovers $1,500 Hwy. 407 bill after criminals duplicated his licence plate

Man warns drivers after licence plate duplicated and used in several crimes including an expensive Highway 407 bill.

Camilo Sanchez was at home last Tuesday night when two Toronto police detectives knocked at his door, flashed their badges at him and informed him the licence plates to his white 2018 Dodge Durango had been duplicated.

The 33-year-old maintenance company owner said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Then they told me that it’s been used in violent crimes and theft around the city,” Sanchez recounted, adding he then answered a few questions to confirm he wasn’t the suspect wanted in these alleged crimes and reviewed photos of the suspect vehicle that looked eerily similar to his own. A spokesperson for Toronto Police Service confirmed Sanchez’s plates had in fact been duplicated but would not provide further comment due to the active investigation.

After the detectives finished their line of questioning, Sanchez said he was told that he would need to get brand new plates at ServiceOntario, which cost $59.

“The next day I decided to go, and I was told by a lady behind the desk that there’s nothing that she could do. I asked her, ‘What’s the problem?’” Sanchez told CTV News Toronto in an interview on Wednesday. “She says that I have a 407 bill that’s over $1,500 and I was honestly shocked.”

Sanchez says he uses the 407 ETR every now and then but no trip has ever amounted to $1,508.42 for him. Plus, Sanchez says he regularly pays off the bills for the tolled highway.

“I was thrown by that,” Sanchez said, adding ServiceOntario would not issue him new licence plates until he paid off the charge. He says he offered the police report number to the desk worker, hoping she could provide some sort of resolution but was ultimately denied.

Sanchez says he then turned to the 407 to see what they could do about the extenuating bill but was again hit with another roadblock.

“I called up the 407 and the lady on the phone said the same thing, ‘My hands are tied. I need a physical report,’” Sanchez said.

The Ministry of Transportation’s office confirmed to CTV News Toronto that, per the Highway Traffic Act, the tolled highway can make a request for the ministry to deny a licence plate renewal should there be an unpaid bill at the time of renewal—or in Sanchez’s case, at the time of ordering new plates. The ministry adds defaulted fines must also be paid in full prior to getting a new or personalized licence plate, as well as renewing a vehicle’s permit.

“Should fraudulent activity occur with a licence plate (e.g. someone fraudulently manufactured duplicate plates), they would need to report this to then police and provide this information to the 407 ETR,” the email reads. “If they are satisfied, the 407 ETR will request the denial to be removed from ministry records, allowing the individual to proceed with their renewal or issuance of new plates.”

But Sanchez says he did not get that from police, just the report number tied to his case.

“The detectives never gave me a physical report, they didn’t even tell me what to do,” Sanchez said.

“I’m trying to figure everything out on my own here.”

After sharing his story to TikTok and getting some guidance from others, Sanchez went to Toronto Police headquarters last Friday but was told that he would have to wait up to 30 days for the report, which cost him $67.

Luckily, by Friday afternoon the ordeal had come to an end after 407 agreed to waive the outstanding toll payments.

CTV News Toronto spoke with Sanchez and he confirmed that he was told the waived fees would take about five business days to reflect online, after which he will finally be able to obtain his new plates.

“We’ve been in touch with the customer about this. It seems there was a misunderstanding of where the charges were coming from on the part of the customer. We’ve resolved the issue with the customer,” a spokesperson for 407 ETR said in an emailed statement.

The 407 said they have started tracking the number of duplicated licence plates on its own as of spring 2024, so they can understand how prevalent this issue is.

“Fortunately, duplicated plates remain rare for our customers. This year, we have investigated 31 cases of duplication compared to a total of 1087 lost or stolen plates,” the email reads.

All governing bodies contacted for this story urge any Ontarian who believes their plate has been duplicated to contact the authorities and return their plates to the transportation ministry.

“We also recommend that if your transponder has been stolen or gone missing to reach out to us to avoid any fraudulent charges,” the 407 said.

The 407 also requires either the full police report or the MTO Declaration Report to confirm the impacted licence plate number and the date the report was filed before they can assist any driver.

Under the Highway Traffic Act, those who use licence plates that are not authorized for their vehicle can incur a $140 fine.