My E-Z Pass consistently fails at RFK Bridge.
Using dummy plate numbers. Is that a possible reason?
I doubt that's the reason. More likely is that it's not mounted in an ideal spot and/or has a failing battery so that reception is borderline. I assume your experience was that the gate did not go up so an officer came over and read or scanned the numbers on your tag. You are at risk of a fine if you go through an ungated toll and it does not read your tag. In this situation, they would look at the photo to see the license plate, look for an account with that plate and bill the toll to that account. In your case, they would not find your plate associated with an account so they would bill the registrant of the car for the toll plus the fine.