Image of Aztec image on mobile phone

[Elecman]

today was travelling on a train and a fellow passenger took an image of the Aztec code off thier season ticket to use at the station barriers rather than take the season ticket out of the wallet it was in.

This got me thinking if they allowed someone else to use the image on the phone whilstnthey used the actual ticket would any barrier system know that the ticket image had been used fraudulently?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

today was travelling on a train and a fellow passenger took an image of the Aztec code off thier season ticket to use at the station barriers rather than take the season ticket out of the wallet it was in.

This got me thinking if they allowed someone else to use the image on the phone whilstnthey used the actual ticket would any barrier system know that the ticket image had been used fraudulently?

Aztec codes are normally not accepted at ticket barriers for exactly this reason.

 

[island]

For those ticket gates that do accept Aztec codes, I suppose whichever runs the gateline could trace misuse of the ticket from an audit log if anyone was so inclined.

 

[Wallsendmag]

today was travelling on a train and a fellow passenger took an image of the Aztec code off thier season ticket to use at the station barriers rather than take the season ticket out of the wallet it was in.

This got me thinking if they allowed someone else to use the image on the phone whilstnthey used the actual ticket would any barrier system know that the ticket image had been used fraudulently?

Yes, but that's as far as I'm going with the explanation for obvious reasons.

 

[whhistle]

Yes, but that's as far as I'm going with the explanation for obvious reasons.

How far can you go? The question was a yes/no answer!

Never heard them called Aztec barcodes though?
The usual terminology is QR (bar)code, which was invented a year before.

 

[ainsworth74]

Never heard them called Aztec barcodes though?
The usual terminology is QR (bar)code, which was invented a year before.

Aztec is different to QR and the codes on tickets are Aztec not QR. It's an easy mistake to make to be fair particularly as QR code is almost used as shorthand for any similar type of barcode whether it be QR or not but for railway ticketing purposes they use Aztec codes.

 

[Haywain]

How far can you go? The question was a yes/no answer!

And the answer given was:

Yes

 

[Deafdoggie]

Surely every ticket has a unique Aztec? In which case if you start a journey before before you finished another one, or another irregularity it would be noticed. Plus, on any ticket checks one of you wouldn't have a ticket. Of course, like any crime, you may get away with it once, or even a few times, but I think it would be noticed before long

 

[gordonthemoron]

I usually use an screenshot of the Aztec code on my mobile boarding pass (for planes) as it's quicker than going into the app

 

[Clip]

Surely every ticket has a unique Aztec? In which case if you start a journey before before you finished another one, or another irregularity it would be noticed. Plus, on any ticket checks one of you wouldn't have a ticket. Of course, like any crime, you may get away with it once, or even a few times, but I think it would be noticed before long

With a season as the OP states there will only be one aztec code on the ticket

 

[A Challenge]

Yes, but that's as far as I'm going with the explanation for obvious reasons.

Presumably if the ticket is in your possession anyway there's no potential for misuse, and no way of tracking it as it is not like the use will conflict.

 

[alistairlees]

Aztec codes are normally not accepted at ticket barriers for exactly this reason.

This is not correct. The reason is the cost of fitting them to the gatelines.