Checky Watch

[samxool]

Are you guys aware of this site set up specifically to aid fare evasion on the newcastle metro?
http://www.facebook.com/CheckyWatch

Nexus (metro operator) claim there is nothing they can do about it.
Its ridiculous. People openly claiming (with their own public personal facebook accounts) they never pay fares, that when they get caught they never give a real name and address, etc
Also, a barrage of abuse towards the ticket inspectors (or as they call them, Checkys), threats of violence towards them (though it mainly appears as jokes as opposed to actual threats) etc.

They have a webpage where you report the locations of the ticket inspectors so people know where to avoid. I have tried in the past to fill the page with bogus posts, blatantly spam, in a bid to make the page as useless as possible, but i've grown bored of doing it now.
What can be done about checky watch?

 

[stut]

Well, it's smarter to use such things to your advantage rather than attempt to censor them. You could net a good few persistent evaders, police in tow, with the information from sites like this.

 

[swj99]

I have tried in the past to fill the page with bogus posts, blatantly spam, in a bid to make the page as useless as possible, but i've grown bored of doing it now.
What can be done about checky watch?

What can be done ? Not a lot. That link is just to a Facebook page, and they (facebook) don't usually remove pages except in exceptional circumstances. I don't think even the worst of the 'Raoul Moat is my hero' type pages were removed by facebook, and some of those were sick and outrageous.

specifically to aid fare evasion

The website itself looks to me more like it was set up to help people to avoid meeting ticket inspectors, which is not the same thing as avoiding paying a fare. Just because someone avoids showing their ticket does not mean they don't have one.
Neither the facebook page nor the website are likely to stop fare evaders being caught, so I wouldn't have thought it's worth losing any sleep over it. I must say, I had a laugh when I saw some of the photos on the facebook page, especially the soap characters and the Jimmy Savile one.

As for spamming the website, it's hardly worth it, and if the site was to report you to your ISP, it could cause you more hassle than it's worth.

 

[90019]

There was a thread about this a couple of months back.

 

[swj99]

Sky News - Nov 7, 2012
Sharon Kelly, Director of Customer Services at DB Regio Tyne and Wear, which operates the Metro on behalf of Nexus, said: “This page promotes criminal activity and as a result we expect Facebook to shut it down as they have before with similar pages...........
Northumbria Police say they are aware of the Facebook page and are working with Nexus to see what action can be taken.

Oh, this fast paced world we live in ! 3 months later and the facebook page is still there. Maybe the police were busy, catching criminals or something.

We asked Jeremy Clarkson from BBC’s Top Gear, what he thought about it.

By high profile campaigns such as writing to their local ombudsman, spraying a derelict bus shelter in Yorkshire and holding a barn dance, these issues reach a wider audience.

 

[Mojo]

As stated by 90019, there is already an open thread on this topic. Please search before creating new topics.