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You don’t have to run a red light to get solicited to pay a huge fine. Scammers are taking advantage of the ticket by mail process made popular by red light cameras. There are reports of emails and phone calls asking people to pay red light fines and give away personal information. Whitney Ray tells us, how to avoid becoming a victim.

Jacqueline Martin drove 400 miles from Ft. Myers to Tallahassee to begin her junior year at FSU.

Reporter: Did you run any red lights?
Jacqueline: No
Reporter: Are you sure?
Jacqueline: Yeah.

If she had and a red light camera snapped a picture she would receive a ticket in the mail. But even if she didn’t Jacqueline could still be solicited to pay a fine. That’s because scammers are posing as police, telling drivers they were caught on camera.

“I think that’s really, really bad. You shouldn’t trick people,” said Jacqueline.

Reports of emails from scammers in Texas and Maryland are beginning to surface, asking people for personal information.

Scammers are also calling drivers, telling them they have an overdue ticket and asking for banking information and a social security number to pay the bill.

Don’t fall for it. If you are caught running a red light, you will receive a notice in the mail. It will look something like this, with picture proof of the violation.

Sam Gilbert and Scott Gould say they didn’t know how the tickets were issued and if they received an email or phone call claiming they owed money…

“I would never question that, just pay it and go on,” said Sam.

“I would just pay it,” said Scott.

Besides getting your money, responding to the fraudulent emails also gives scammers the green light to steal your identity.

The Attorney Generals Office has received a lot of complaints about red light cameras. They’re still searching to see if any are related to scams. If you have received one of the emails of phone calls you can report it to the Florida Fraud Hotline at 1-866-966-7226