Fare evasion

[skyhigh]

Something is off here. The OP seems to know rather a lot about what might be the outcome of fare evasion, and BTP indeed don't normally work like this.

I suspect there may be aggravating factors that have been omitted, but going on the basis that we've been told the full story - If you have any doubt about the legitimacy of the officer (assuming it's BTP), I'd just call 0800405040 and say that you've been contacted by (name of the officer) asking you to go to (whichever) police station and you'd like to check they are a genuine officer. They should be able to tell you if they are pretty quickly.

 

[AlterEgo]

Something is off here. The OP seems to know rather a lot about what might be the outcome of fare evasion, and BTP indeed don't normally work like this.

I suspect there may be aggravating factors that have been omitted, but going on the basis that we've been told the full story - If you have any doubt about the legitimacy of the officer (assuming it's BTP), I'd just call 0800405040 and say that you've been contacted by (name of the officer) asking you to go to (whichever) police station and you'd like to check they are a genuine officer. They should be able to tell you if they are pretty quickly.

Good advice. Something is definitely very unusual about the story - claiming it’s his first fare evasion related charge but also seeming to know how ticket irregularities are normally resolved doesn’t match up.

 

[6Gman]

On the 5 of February I was coming out the underground station in Victoria.. and tapped out using my contactless card. Even though I have tapped in the previous station that I got in, once I got at Victoria station I tapped out but My card didn’t work. So I was intercepted by a transport police. even though I try to explained to him that I don’t know why my card stop working, he told me that is still an offence. He took my details down and said he’s going to contact me, a month l later I got an email from him saying I should come down to a police to take my fingerprints and photo. Even though I didn’t get any court hearing or a penalty fare, what should I do next.. any help pls

I'm trying to unpick this section in particular.

I'm not a user of contactless but my understanding was that, like Oyster, if you tap in but fail to tap out you simply pay the maximum fare. Am I wrong?

If you get to the barrier and - for whatever reason - your card won't work surely it simply doesn't open. At which point you "seek assistance". I'm puzzled by the OP's link "my card didn't work so [my emphasis] I was intercepted by a transport police". Why would a card not working lead directly to BTP involvement?

As others have said it all looks very odd if it's a simple matter of a faulty bank card.

 

[ukkid]

Unless the starting station had open barriers. Even then a lot of missing information here.

Was the contactless card in your name?
Can the content of the email be uploaded, covering up personal details?
Which police station?
What have you been charged with?
Was there an interview?

 

[6Gman]

Unless the starting station had open barriers.

The OP indicated that he had tapped in at a previous station.

 

[221129]

The OP indicated that he had tapped in at a previous station.

But if the barriers were open or non existent it is possible that the OP didn't actually touch in.

 

[43096]

Why do I get the feeling we're not getting the whole story?

If you tap in successfully and then your card can't/won't tap out then surely the barriers just don't open as, from memory, Victoria Underground station is fully barriered. It seems a big leap from that, which would normally attract gateline staff, and wouldn't get immediate BTP attention. It seems to be me there is a rather large hole between tapping out and BTP attendance.

 

[30907]

Could be either or tbh.

The OP stated BTP.

 

[AlterEgo]

Why do I get the feeling we're not getting the whole story?

If you tap in successfully and then your card can't/won't tap out then surely the barriers just don't open as, from memory, Victoria Underground station is fully barriered. It seems a big leap from that, which would normally attract gateline staff, and wouldn't get immediate BTP attention. It seems to be me there is a rather large hole between tapping out and BTP attendance.

It's possible the plain-clothes officer was on duty and acting undercover. There's a lot more than meets the eye here.

 

[Tallguy]

It’s unclear if charges have been laid and if they have by whom. This appears to be a voluntary interview request which I would not comply with. The purpose of a voluntary interview is so that you can incriminate yourself without the Police doing a lot of work. There is something missing on this story as the Police wouldn’t go to these lengths over simple fare evasion.

 

[221129]

The OP stated BTP.

I was replying to a post saying that should be BTP matter and nothing to do with the Met. I said it could be either or as they both actively take part in operations on the underground. Also given that the OPs communication style seems like english isn't their first language, transport police could just mean any police officer (or even an RPI) on the transport network.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Can the OP confirm what station he boarded at and also, when he tapped in, did the barriers actually open to let him through?

In my mind, this is not fare evasion and something isn't right here.

If he tapped in and the barriers actually opened, there was no intent to avoid a fare

Or... it was part of a "sting" and the OP has a history ...

 

[Cdd89]

If a contactless payment card is used to touch in, it will always be accepted if within date (etc), but when the system attempts to reserve payment and the card does not have funds, the card is immediately blacklisted until the situation is resolved. This takes about 15-30 minutes. The bit I’m not sure of is whether the system always permits an exit tap if someone tapped in to the system — it does for Oyster but maybe it can’t for Contactless. If this is the case and it was a reasonably long journey then perhaps this is what happened?

 

[MikeWh]

The bit I’m not sure of is whether the system always permits an exit tap if someone tapped in to the system

Yes it does. If the gate didn't open then it was likely to be a communication error between card and reader, or faulty card.

 

[Western Sunset]

I might be proved wrong (and hope I am), but I doubt if the OP will get back to us to clarify things.

 

[WesternLancer]

Any notion that this is a scam is utterly absurd.

The chap is being asked to attend a police station. Nobody has asked for money, nor even any indication. He has been clearly asked to attend to comply with various regulations around providing DNA/Photography/Fingerprints as part of being charged after committing an offence.

I cannot see ANYTHING that is not normal about this case, it seems positively routine.

Stopped by plain clothes police officer after committing an offence.
Details taken, which included email.
Charged with an offence.
Requested to attend a police station to provide DNA etc as per PACE.
I suspect when attending you will be handed either a summons or you will eventually receive a summons by post (which can take a few months to arrange). Nothing at all unusual about being asked to provide DNA etc in the meantime.

Unless some forum members are that paranoid of corruption and scams, that anyone actually believes in this (very elaborate scam), that someone is being asked to attend a real police station so a scammer can extract money from the forum member, despite not being asked for money at any stage prior.

Absolute nonsense.

In any event, it sounds like the poster knows it is real, and rightfully so. He sounds more annoyed that it has gone straight to a police officer, rather than being stopped by a train ticket inspector and given a penalty fare.

In England and Wales, police email addresses should have pnn.police.uk at the end. E.g. [email protected] in any event, if you want to be extra sure.

Of note is that the scan of a BTP letter in the GA fraud thread (post 884 I think) does not seem to have an e-mail in that format (no 'pnn') in the e-mail. May be of no relevance but I noted it having taken note of your post here the other day. Not that I am suggesting that is some sort of fraud, just that I noted it.

Advice Only for Greater Anglia - Delay Repay Fraud

Re your first two paras, do l accept that some may do that? Yes, it's very possible. Do l think that clicking "accept" in those circumstances, when in my experience there is always either an explicit statement and/or a tickbox that says that in doing so you accept the T&C's and are making an...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

I believe (although stand to be corrected) that the .pnn.police.uk is some sort of "secure" email address, so it may well be the case that the one you mention in the other thread, btp.police.uk is more of a "everyday" email address for routine communication. Or just a typo! (There's a few in that letter!).

Can always give the PC a call and ask

 

[skyhigh]

I believe (although stand to be corrected) that the .pnn.police.uk is some sort of "secure" email address, so it may well be the case that the one you mention in the other thread, btp.police.uk is more of a "everyday" email address for routine communication. Or just a typo! (There's a few in that letter!).

Can always give the PC a call and ask

.pnn.police.uk is a secure email, and emails sent from a .pnn.police.uk address to a .pnn.police.uk will be secured. An email sent by an outside address will be received fine at a .pnn.police.uk address. If you send an email to [email protected] it'll go to the same place as [email protected]. Basically, it makes little difference where you send an email if you don't have a .pnn.police.uk address yourself.

 

[WesternLancer]

I believe (although stand to be corrected) that the .pnn.police.uk is some sort of "secure" email address, so it may well be the case that the one you mention in the other thread, btp.police.uk is more of a "everyday" email address for routine communication. Or just a typo! (There's a few in that letter!).

Can always give the PC a call and ask

Good point!

 

[ukkid]

The OP indicated that he had tapped in at a previous station.

That wouldn't prevent them proceeding if there were open or indeed no barriers