People boasting on social media about repeated fare dodging

[THC]

On a Facebook friend's page tonight is a conversation between two people who are comparing notes about and ways of fare dodging, including an app for faking rail tickets. I haven't added my 2p worth to tell them what I think but I'd be interested to know what if anything I can do with the information or who I can tell to take action. Can't stand people like that and would love to see them brought to book. Grateful for any advice.

THC

 

[Egg Centric]

On a Facebook friend's page tonight is a conversation between two people who are comparing notes about and ways of fare dodging, including an app for faking rail tickets. I haven't added my 2p worth to tell them what I think but I'd be interested to know what if anything I can do with the information or who I can tell to take action. Can't stand people like that and would love to see them brought to book. Grateful for any advice.

THC

Firstly, I'm going to assume your screenname + avatar don't refer to cannabis - if it does then the hypocrisy is breathtaking.

Secondly, I would advise for your own sanity doing nothing at all. They will get caught eventually if they start faking tickets on any scale and the last thing you want to do is end up in a situation where your friends do not trust you as you are perceived as a "tattle tale".

 

[THC]

Firstly, I'm going to assume your screenname + avatar don't refer to cannabis - if it does then the hypocrisy is breathtaking.

Secondly, I would advise for your own sanity doing nothing at all. They will get caught eventually if they start faking tickets on any scale and the last thing you want to do is end up in a situation where your friends do not trust you as you are perceived as a "tattle tale".

They are my initials and the avatar is a leprechaun (I'm Irish). And as a 50+ year-old I couldn't give a monkey's about what random strangers or Facebook friends think, but thanks for the advice.

THC

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I'd be interested to know what if anything I can do with the information or who I can tell to take action.

Personally, I think it’s really sad to know that people can be such busybodies. Just ignore it.

 

[Egg Centric]

They are my initials and the avatar is a leprechaun (I'm Irish). And as a 50+ year-old I couldn't give a monkey's about what random strangers or Facebook friends think, but thanks for the advice.

THC

I'm aware the avatar is a leprecahun, but when viewed along with the initials it is suspicious. Anyhoo thanks for clarifying.

As for the rest... well feel free to report people for miscellaneous misdemeanors if you want, I've no sympathy for your "victims". But I'm not going to help either.

 

[THC]

I'm aware the avatar is a leprecahun, but when viewed along with the initials it is suspicious. Anyhoo thanks for clarifying.

As for the rest... well feel free to report people for miscellaneous misdemeanors if you want, I've no sympathy for your "victims". But I'm not going to help either.

We're all victims, those of us who pay our fares. But thanks for your time anyway.

THC

 

[Egg Centric]

We're all victims, those of us who pay our fares. But thanks for your time anyway.

THC

We're also all victims of cancel culture and an increasing stasi like ethos where people are afraid to say what they like online and (far more importantly) in person. This doesn't affect what people actually do. It just drives it underground. Meanwhile the trust that is required for a community is continually eroded.

Far better to openly challenge them. Explain to them why what they're doing is wrong.

 

[contrex]

Firstly, I'm going to assume your screenname + avatar don't refer to cannabis - if it does then the hypocrisy is breathtaking.

He or she won't be a hypocrite soon in Germany.

 

[Kite159]

They will get caught eventually, and if caught with fake tickets it's a big risk.

Probably the sort who live on routes travelling between stations with no barriers where RPI checks/guard checks are quite rare

Even if they are buying real tickets to short fare to exit a station with barriers, they are leaving an evidence trail behind them with the purchase history.

 

[Gloster]

I had to look up THC. Us oldies didn’t have Twitter, tik-tok, etc., so we learned to writ proper.

We're also all victims of cancel culture and an increasing stasi like ethos where people are afraid to say what they like online and (far more importantly) in person. This doesn't affect what people actually do. It just drives it underground. Meanwhile the trust that is required for a community is continually eroded.

Far better to openly challenge them. Explain to them why what they're doing is wrong.

No thanks. They won’t pay any attention, but might film themselves attacking you, physically or otherwise.

 

[THC]

Personally, I think it’s really sad to know that people can be such busybodies. Just ignore it.

Personally, I think it's really sad to know that people who purport to be rail enthusiasts are happy to condone fraud on our railways.

As a public servant whose ability and budget to deliver services to vulnerable people is impacted by people who commit similar types of fraud, I'll take being a busybody if it means we can better fund what we do.

THC

 

[miklcct]

They will get caught eventually, and if caught with fake tickets it's a big risk.

Probably the sort who live on routes travelling between stations with no barriers where RPI checks/guard checks are quite rare

Even if they are buying real tickets to short fare to exit a station with barriers, they are leaving an evidence trail behind them with the purchase history.

I'm surprised that busy stations in London still don't have ticket barriers (for example, Kentish Town West). Even if they have, they are frequently left out of use.

 

[Andy Pacer]

I had to look up THC. Us oldies didn’t have Twitter, tik-tok, etc., so we learned to writ proper.

I also had to look it up, I was a child of the 80s so clearly getting on a bit myself!!

And as for the fare dodging, to us individuals it's a war we will never win frustrating as it is. If you "shop" one set, then soon enough you'll come across another and so on .

 

[Egg Centric]

He or she won't be a hypocrite soon in Germany.

Probably not here either within the next decade. Prohibition is ridiculous. But it wouldn't change the position that complaining about lawbreaking while breaking the law oneself would be crazy. Totally irrelevant when @THC has clarified anyhow!

No thanks. They won’t pay any attention, but might film themselves attacking you, physically or otherwise.

There is no (realistic) risk of attack from disagreeing on Facebook with fare evaders, unless THC has some very dodgy friends!

If @THC wants to do some quick good then report the app rather than the evaders. I cannot imagine that Apple or Google would allow a fare evasion app if they knew about it.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

we learned to writ proper..

The irony

 

[LowLevel]

I see very few fake tickets to be fair. They seemed to be more common a few years ago.

 

[jackot]

Personally, I think it's really sad to know that people who purport to be rail enthusiasts are happy to condone fraud on our railways.

There is a stark difference between condoning fraud and ignoring 2 people on a Facebook group. There is a limit to how much one person can do to stop a small-scale example like this, without seeming obnoxious or intrusive, however wrong their actions may be. I'm sure they will be caught out eventually by an RPI or someone with more authority.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

My personal take on the situation is that the OP appears to be rather self-righteous and may get a kick out of getting people in trouble, if not fair enough, but I fail to see the point of this thread. If they really want to go to all that effort to rat out whoever this is, then surely they’re well aware they can send a screenshot to 61016 or potentially email the TOC concerned.

 

[THC]

My personal take on the situation is that the OP appears to be rather self-righteous and may get a kick out of getting people in trouble,

Not the case at all, just someone sick of blatant piss-taking. One of the individuals boasts of having paid £1k in fines to save £20k in fares. I'm sick of subsidising such freeloaders through my fares and taxes. When you grow up you'll understand.

if not fair enough, but I fail to see the point of this thread. If they really want to go to all that effort to rat out whoever this is, then surely they’re well aware they can send a screenshot to 61016

Hadn't thought of that. Thank you.

THC

 

[Egg Centric]

Not the case at all, just someone sick of blatant piss-taking. One of the individuals boasts of having paid £1k in fines to save £20k in fares. I'm sick of subsidising such freeloaders.

They're almost certainly lying. That seems completely implausible.

(Shocking that fare evaders might be dishonest, I know )

 

[Haywain]

If it’s self righteous to object to people openly and publicly discussing committing crimes, and wanting to do something to stop it, I’m with the OP.

 

[THC]

They're almost certainly lying. That seems completely implausible.

He also talks of providing false details when caught. So maybe not as implausible as you might think.

THC

 

[johntea]

I see very few fake tickets to be fair. They seemed to be more common a few years ago.

I would guess there are a lot more fake season tickets than your standard day returns or whatever, ticket barriers aren't much use in detecting them as the gateline staff get so many rejected a day they pretty much just let you through without taking the time to read the code displayed by the barrier, they are a lot more strict in London I've found however

Out of interest if a disgruntled ex employee or thief manages to make off with a ticket machine are they able to knock out tickets or are there facilities in place to remotely disable them? (Like I work in IT and we can remotely wipe phones via our mobile device manager software if they go walkabouts)

 

[THC]

If it’s self righteous to object to people openly and publicly discussing committing crimes, and wanting to do something to stop it, I’m with the OP.

Thank you. Glad to know I'm not alone.

THC

 

[Gloster]

Thank you. Glad to know I'm not alone.

THC

I am also in agreement with the OP. (We all age to become the people we swore we would never turn into.)

 

[Egg Centric]

If it’s self righteous to object to people openly and publicly discussing committing crimes, and wanting to do something to stop it, I’m with the OP.

He also talks of providing false details when caught. So maybe not as implausible as you might think.

THC

Ok so the more details you provide, the more the guy sounds like a complete prick. Fine.

I am still convinced that the best way of preventing fare evasion is social opprobrium and the best way to achieve that is to call them out publically.

Reporting to authority is extremely unlikely to achieve anything and if multiplied as a behaviour will only lead to negative effects - even ignoring the Stasi point (which I still feel is the most compelling reason to do nowt clandestinely) take a look at the prosecutions forum here to see what the TOCs get up to if left on their own. Then imagine that ineptitude 100 fold if everyone were "snitching".

You're also setting yourself up for disappointment if you go down that route. In the overwhelmingly likely scenario, nothing happens to him and you will feel impotent the next time you come across his braggadocio.

 

[LowLevel]

I would guess there are a lot more fake season tickets than your standard day returns or whatever, ticket barriers aren't much use in detecting them as the gateline staff get so many rejected a day they pretty much just let you through without taking the time to read the code displayed by the barrier, they are a lot more strict in London I've found however

Out of interest if a disgruntled ex employee or thief manages to make off with a ticket machine are they able to knock out tickets or are there facilities in place to remotely disable them? (Like I work in IT and we can remotely wipe phones via our mobile device manager software if they go walkabouts)

Even the last generation machines had to be docked frequently or they'd deactivate.

Nowadays they're smartphone based and thus easy to remotely disable.

 

[Haywain]

Out of interest if a disgruntled ex employee or thief manages to make off with a ticket machine are they able to knock out tickets or are there facilities in place to remotely disable them? (Like I work in IT and we can remotely wipe phones via our mobile device manager software if they go walkabouts)

Well, the lack of payments would be noticed pretty quickly and the user would be easily traced. In any event, they are often used on secure networks so may not even function. But if they do remote access is quite simple these days and the device could be wiped .

 

[Watershed]

We're all victims, those of us who pay our fares. But thanks for your time anyway.

THC

Given the current contractual mechanisms on the railway, it's taxpayers at large who are suffering, if anyone - they are losing out on the ticket revenue which the Treasury would otherwise have received.

 

[Doubleplus]

He also talks of providing false details when caught. So maybe not as implausible as you might think.

THC

If they really gave false details, how would they be fined? These sound like outlandish boasts, and little more. Just because someone can gain a social following and notoriety by claiming to break the law, doesn’t mean they actually have. And if the only evidence of such lawbreaking is a video which they have complete control over the filming and editing of… well, that’s no evidence of anything at all either.