I receive so many reports of this that the only conclusion I can come to is that it is almost inevitable if you hire a car in the Florence area.
However, there are some rules: This from the Italian Consulate. “According to the Italian Law, a fine to a person resident abroad must be notified within 1 year from the date of the traffic violation which caused the fine. Besides, it must be notified in that person’s language and must contain the indication of a mean of payment form abroad (for instance, the international coordinates, IBAN code, of a bank account where the fined person may pay the fine by international bank transfer).” There has been a case in Italy over a fake ticket scam involving illegally altered traffic light timing. R.S. of Roccamalatina in Emilia Romagna tells us that a widespread nationwide scam involving scam involving officialdom, police and camera companies. This was identified last year in Italy and the various parties are being prosecuted
(www.thenewspaper.com/news/26/2672.asp). As a result, most if not all red light camera and similar traffic light - speed control devices have been removed/deactivated in the last few months.