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The Most Audacious of Fraudsters.

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Mutant Lemming

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Much has been mentioned about fare dodgers without tickets and their excuses but what about blatant fraudsters ? Many years ago I was watching a programme about a ticket collector who had just recieved an MBE (or something similar) and the person interviewing him asked about people trying to travel without paying and instances that stuck in his mind. The one he recalled was of a man who had altered a PETERBOROUGH to OUNDLE ticket to read DUNDEE and was only challenged by this chap up in the North-East because he thought that even at the cheapest Priv rate available it would cost more than 4/6d for that journey.
Any of you come across any similar extraordinary cases ?
 
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table38

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IIRC there was a chap who bought a Brighton to Preston Park, and a Clapham to Victoria season to get him through the barriers, then forged a season ticket from Brighton to Victoria which he kept in one of those plastic wallets so he could just flash it at the guard if challenged.

I think he got away with it for a few years before someone inspected the forged ticket more closely.
 

Ferret

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IIRC there was a chap who bought a Brighton to Preston Park, and a Clapham to Victoria season to get him through the barriers, then forged a season ticket from Brighton to Victoria which he kept in one of those plastic wallets so he could just flash it at the guard if challenged.

I think he got away with it for a few years before someone inspected the forged ticket more closely.

A lot of that about! DIY season tickets are becoming very common... Just don't get caught doing it or it'll be a very painful court case.
 

table38

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I think this is the chap I was thinking of. He got 9 months suspended, ordered to repay the £12,472 of unpaid fares, plus 240 hours of unpaid work and pay £510 costs.

He stupidly had a lot of evidence left on his laptop.
 

swt_passenger

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From the recent '10 best excuses' thread:

Fare dodgers are ‘depriving the rail network and other passengers of an estimated £200m a year’, according to figures published today by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) which represents Britain’s train operators.

From Karen Boswell two years ago quoted in that Daily Mail link:

‘Fare-dodgers like Moore are robbing the rail industry of £400million a year, money that could otherwise be invested in better services for the vast majority of law-abiding passengers who do pay for their rail tickets.’

Figures just plucked out of thin air - or has fraud really halved in that time... :roll:
 

Flamingo

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A colleague found a long distance season ticket that had been scanned and then sent back for a refund. It cost the girl her job as well as a large fine and a criminal record, as her firm had bought the ticket for her, and she had taken the refund herself.
 

Old Timer

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Short ticketing is the usual long distance fare evasion especially practised on busy lines.

In my time I have had forged season tickets, especially when colour photocopiers came in. In many cases the forgers had gone to some considerable extremes to get the ticket colour right (green) and had used printing equipment in the largest case and a childs printing set in most others.

Some were very good and were hard to detect, others immediately raised eyebrows when taken out of the holder, however at busy ticket barriers in the rush hour there is practically no chance of picking these up.

One of the ways that we did find out was when the booking clerks realised that a regualr traveller never came to buy a ticket at the window. In a lot of stations the clerks got to know the "regulars" as did the station staff and these were ocassionally good sources of tip offs.

Fraudulent use of the husband's ticket by the wife became a larger feature in the late 70s/early 80s when we were no longer allowed to stamp W on a ticket issued to a woman.

Prior to that, what happened was that husband 1 and 2 went to the Golf Club and let Wife 1 and 2 use their seasons. Queue the withdrawal of the tickets and a Section 5 Prosecution, Withdrawal in fare evasion cases always meant a refusal to issue a season ticket again to the original holder, so it was a far more expensive exercise than the fare "saved".

The opposite of course was when the husband used a W ticket for the football or a day out !
 

GB

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Surely the most audacious of fraudsters is that chap who stole a ticket machine and printed off his own tickets?
 

Flamingo

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Surely the most audacious of fraudsters is that chap who stole a ticket machine and printed off his own tickets?

You mean this little git?

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/3187644.Free_rides_scam_of_York_teenager/


Megi Rychlikova for York Press said:
A TEENAGER’s sophisticated scam gave him a £148,000 ride on the trains for free, York Crown Court heard.
First-class fraudster Carl Anthony Haywood, 18, used a stolen ticket machine to get himself 100 per cent discounts.
On one occasion, he was caught red-handed with 191 cheating tickets that prosecution barrister Anthony Dunne said had a face value of £148,000. On another, he masqueraded as a railway employee in a bid to get free travel.
His journeys hit the buffers when he was caught on a train in southern England and a court sent him to Hull Prison on remand. But after he took an overdose of anti-depressants behind bars, a judge let him out on bail – on condition he immediately make tracks for Birmingham.
“You have pleaded guilty to a series of sophisticated and technically skilful series of fraud,” Recorder Anton Lodge QC told him at York Crown Court. “The likelihood is you will be sent to prison. But in the light of what I have heard about your mental condition, that is the reason I am going to grant you bail.”
He set conditions that Haywood, formerly of Roseberry Terrace, off Leeman Road, York, live with his father in Parkinson Crescent, Kingstanding, Birmingham, reports three times a week to police, co-operates with the probation service – and stays away from all railway stations, tracks and trains.

He also ordered a pre-sentence probation report and a psychiatric report to be prepared before Haywood returns for sentence in September.
Haywood pleaded guilty to passing off a falsely-issued Rover rail ticket as genuine on July 5, October 6, October 9, November 2, November 3, December 8, and January 13 and falsely claiming to be a railway employee on November 2.
He also admitted handling a ticket issuing machine on a date between August 29 and September 1. He denied stealing a ticket machine from First Great Western Trains on August 31 but admitted possessing a stolen ticket machine to use as part of his scam and carrying 191 falsely issued tickets on the same day. He pleaded guilty to handling stolen railway tickets on September 11, and possessing fraudulently issued tickets on October 6 and October 9.
He denied two more allegations of stealing railway property and one of possessing an article used in fraud on February 6.
His barrister, Helen Hendry, said her client wanted a similar offence taken into account.
It was committed on April 7, the day on which he was arrested and locked up. She pointed out that he could travel by bus to Birmingham
 

185

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My best two are....

In first class, I got "I am the Revenue Protection Manager!" he shows me some FirstGroup badge hanging round his neck on a lanyard.
"Oh, okay." so I walks off, up to the vestibule, steps out of sight, and jumps arounds smiling.... "YES!!!!".
Waited until after Stalybridge and I went back to him, and sat on the table opposite. "So, tell me mate, what prompts you to go round pretending to be a manager? - after all Judith is our revenue protection manager and you don't really look pregnant ish."
....the 14-strong revenue team had been hunting him for 9 months without success and much to their disgust, I caught him :) ......nicked at Piccadilly by BTP, 720 hours community service.

Other one was a Chinese chap with a Leeds-Hull annual £3200 season ticket. Looked very good. Shiny front, font was perfect, text was all correct. Poor bloke looked like he was sitting on a nuclear bomb, which was the real giveaway.
 

First class

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The article makes out an offence I don't think exists:

Haywood pleaded guilty to passing off a falsely-issued Rover rail ticket as genuine on July 5, October 6, October 9, November 2, November 3, December 8, and January 13 and falsely claiming to be a railway employee on November 2.

Fraud by false representation would be the charge.
Actual tickets covered by "Making or supplying articles for use in frauds"

Either way multiple convictions under the Fraud Act 2006 has seriously damaged his future.
 

Butts

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My best two are....

In first class, I got "I am the Revenue Protection Manager!" he shows me some FirstGroup badge hanging round his neck on a lanyard.
"Oh, okay." so I walks off, up to the vestibule, steps out of sight, and jumps arounds smiling.... "YES!!!!".
Waited until after Stalybridge and I went back to him, and sat on the table opposite. "So, tell me mate, what prompts you to go round pretending to be a manager? - after all Judith is our revenue protection manager and you don't really look pregnant ish."
....the 14-strong revenue team had been hunting him for 9 months without success and much to their disgust, I caught him :) ......nicked at Piccadilly by BTP, 720 hours community service.

Other one was a Chinese chap with a Leeds-Hull annual £3200 season ticket. Looked very good. Shiny front, font was perfect, text was all correct. Poor bloke looked like he was sitting on a nuclear bomb, which was the real giveaway.

Did you get a reward for capturing the first villain ?:p
 

AlterEgo

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nicked at Piccadilly by BTP, 720 hours community service.

I'm pretty sure it's not possible to be sentenced to 720 hours of community service.

Maximum I believe is about 300 or 360. Anything requiring higher is a prison term (suspended or otherwise).
 

PaulLothian

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Maximum 300 hours, and no individual can have more than 300 hours outstanding at any time. I believe that it is possible to have multiple maximum concurrent orders in England and Wales, which gives the courts more powers in the event of default by the offender (certainly one reason why Sheriffs like concurrent orders here in Scotland).
 

SWTCommuter

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Fraudulent use of the husband's ticket by the wife became a larger feature in the late 70s/early 80s when we were no longer allowed to stamp W on a ticket issued to a woman.

Prior to that, what happened was that husband 1 and 2 went to the Golf Club and let Wife 1 and 2 use their seasons. Queue the withdrawal of the tickets and a Section 5 Prosecution, Withdrawal in fare evasion cases always meant a refusal to issue a season ticket again to the original holder, so it was a far more expensive exercise than the fare "saved".

The opposite of course was when the husband used a W ticket for the football or a day out !

That reminds me of a ticket inspection on a VEP one morning back in the 1980s.

Guard: 'Does your wife buy your season ticket for you sir?'

Pin-striped commuter, outraged and turning purple as though accused of some bizarre sexual practice: 'What business is that of yours!?'

Guard, very calmly: 'It's just that you are travelling on a woman's ticket sir...'

Pin-striped commuter, meekly: 'Oh'.
 

GodAtum

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What's a woman's ticket?

Also, didn't some uni guys hack an Oyster so they could travel for free?
 

SWTCommuter

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What's a woman's ticket?

Also, didn't some uni guys hack an Oyster so they could travel for free?

The old-style card season tickets used to have a large 'W' stamped across them if bought by a woman, as explained by Old Timer earlier in this thread.
 

Moog_1984

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On the 1970s/ 80s rover tickets certain peoples would bleach out the stamp ink with alcohol then hypochlorite and restamp a date on.

Also scratch it cards: famously done with scalpels and two cards by devious peoples.

Allegedly. I read in a book somewhere once...;)
 

Butts

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On the 1970s/ 80s rover tickets certain peoples would bleach out the stamp ink with alcohol then hypochlorite and restamp a date on.

Also scratch it cards: famously done with scalpels and two cards by devious peoples.

Allegedly. I read in a book somewhere once...;)

Sounds like they were refugees from the "escape committee" at Colditz Castle :p
 

David

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On the 1970s/ 80s rover tickets certain peoples would bleach out the stamp ink with alcohol then hypochlorite and restamp a date on.

Also scratch it cards: famously done with scalpels and two cards by devious peoples.

Allegedly. I read in a book somewhere once...;)

Just like a Coast and Peaks being valid to the likes of Brighton or Great Yarmouth! :lol:
 

richw

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Also scratch it cards: famously done with scalpels and two cards by devious peoples.

Not sure if you are aware of the citizen card, an acceptable proof of age, i knew of youngsters who used to scratch their date of birth out, and refill the space using numbers from a stationary shop of the correct size to make their citizencard show them as over 18, so as to drink etc. I was once working at a local bar, and a lad came in with a perfectly changed card. As a rugby enthusiast, i recognised him from an under 18 cup match i'd watched earlier that day, so i said to him "sorry, you were under 18 earlier at a rugby match i was watching, now your offering me ID saying your 21". His face was a picture, and it got better when i offered him that i could advise the cup committee, that his team, who were favourites for the competition were playing over aged players. He left the bar pretty quickly when i offered to do that"
 

CHESHIRECAT

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Wasn't there a scam in Gatwick Booking Office in mid 80's involving magnets being plaved next to the new at the time ticket machines ? ... stopped the end of day reading being accurate ;)
 

island

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On the 1970s/ 80s rover tickets certain peoples would bleach out the stamp ink with alcohol then hypochlorite and restamp a date on.

That only worked in April, May, June, August, September, October and November though :)
 

Moog_1984

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That only worked in April, May, June, August, September, October and November though :)

The whole thing was an old fashioned roll barrel ink stamp.

I have it on good authority it was done to extend one weekers to month long ones though, with the then brand new technology of tippex laminate sheets.

.....allegedly a non disclosed insider source informs me via anonymous sms.
 
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