URGENT PLEASE HELP - ‘Multiuse Irregularity’ from Greater Anglia

[bee339]

I have received the following email from Greater Anglia; and I must respond by tomorrow.

The only thing I think this could be is the following:
- I purchased an open return ticket on 24th May.
- This ticket remained at the top of my Trainline app tickets.
- On the 24th June, by mistake, I scanned the 24th May ticket at the barriers. It obviously did not let me through and I realised my mistake and immediately scanned the correct ticket.
- The ticket reference number they have provided matches the reference for the 24th May ticket.

PLEASE ADVISE ON WHAT I SHOULD RESPOND / IF YOU HAVE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.

We have been notified that the train ticket you purchased, numbered XXXX has been used for excessive journeys when travelling on Greater Anglia services. This activity is a breach of our terms and conditions and has been highlighted as potentially fraudulent.

We view this as a serious issue, and we have taken this step to contact you, with an outlook to resolve this matter with you efficiently.

We invite you to respond to this letter within 7 days by email to Fraud.Investigations@greateranglia.co.uk quoting the reference number XXXX in the subject field.

 

[Snow1964]

Firstly pause, it is for them to show you travelled with an invalid (or previously already used) ticket, not for you to reply hastily, accidentally incriminate yourself with a poor answer.

It will help people to compile helpful comments if you could clarify, be 100% honest, if you did (or didn't) use ticket multiple times, or if it was something else like accidentally selected wrong month when buying a ticket for a future single date.

 

[bee339]

Firstly pause, it is for them to show you travelled with an invalid (or previously already used) ticket, not for you to reply hastily, accidentally incriminate yourself with a poor answer.

It will help people to compile helpful comments if you could clarify, be 100% honest, if you did (or didn't) use ticket multiple times, or if it was something else like accidentally selected wrong month when buying a ticket for a future single date.

Hi - thanks for your response.
I did not use the ticket multiple times.

As I say, I had travelled into London on the 24th May and purchased an open return on that date.

The ticket remained in my Trainline app tickets.

On the 24th JUNE, I accidentally scanned the 24th May ticket again, and the barriers did not open. I realised immediately my mistake, and scanned the correctly purchased ticket - which I had bought that morning - for that date, which was 24th June and continued my journey.

I travel into London regularly for work and therefore always purchase the correct tickets.

 

[SuspectUsual]

If what you’ve described is what happened, if you give them the details of the second ticket they should presumably see a second, successful, scan at the same gate a few seconds after the first one failed, and then presumably further scans of the second ticket later in the journey.

If you’re 100% sure that is the only possible issue the can be asking you about, it may be as simple as explaining this to them and providing the ticket details.

 

[bee339]

If what you’ve described is what happened, if you give them the details of the second ticket they should presumably see a second, successful, scan at the same gate a few seconds after the first one failed, and then presumably further scans of the second ticket later in the journey.

If you’re 100% sure that is the only possible issue the can be asking you about, it may be as simple as explaining this to them and providing the ticket details.

Hi, thanks for your response.

I do not see how it can relate to any other issue. My destination station does not have any ticket barriers, but I still always purchase my ticket to that location.

They should also be able to see a pattern of 3 days a week, completing the same journey.

I believe responding with details of the correct ticket should be sufficient to resolve the issue. Many thanks again.

 

[AlterEgo]

Trainline strikes again. Don't use them, they have been cuckolded by the train companies into being little coppers' narks every time some tiny indiscretion is noticed. Dreadful company.

 

[tatitiliti]

I would echo what @AlterEgo has said - just avoid Trainline like the plague in future. Buy directly from the TOC or from the vendor on this website.

In terms of the email - you can safely ignore it and successive emails as there’s no way they have anything to go on and are just waiting for you to incriminate yourself. However, if you want peace of mind/know you have done nothing wrong, you can reply by sending them the valid ticket you used to travel and explain what happened.

Must be a quiet day at the Greater Anglia Prosecutions Department…

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What's the offence or irregularity, if any, that the OP has allegedly committed, supposedly in breach of Greater Anglia's terms and conditions? Attempting to pass through the barriers at some GA station using an expired/previously used ticket? Or something else?

 

[Royston Vasey]

Outrageous escalation, demonstrably you did not travel on the ticket since the barrier did not let you through and your account will show a valid ticket for the journey made.

This is akin to showing a guard a paper ticket for the wrong day, to which he/she would point it out, you'd say, oh sorry, it's this one, and that's that.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Outrageous escalation, demonstrably you did not travel on the ticket since the barrier did not let you through and your account will show a valid ticket for the journey made.

We don’t know whether this is at an entrance barrier or an exit barrier, nor when the ticket was purchased (e.g. was it purchased before boarding the train). Clearly trying to use the incorrect ticket then, when it didn’t work, buying a new one at the exit barrier would be an offence.

In any case the advice here is simple: ignore them. Anything you do say will be used in evidence therefore exercise your right to silence.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Jul 2025 ==

Trainline strikes again. Don't use them, they have been cuckolded by the train companies into being little coppers' narks every time some tiny indiscretion is noticed. Dreadful company.

Couldn’t put it better myself!

 

[bee339]

We don’t know whether this is at an entrance barrier or an exit barrier, nor when the ticket was purchased (e.g. was it purchased before boarding the train). Clearly trying to use the incorrect ticket then, when it didn’t work, buying a new one at the exit barrier would be an offence.

In any case the advice here is simple: ignore them. Anything you do say will be used in evidence therefore exercise your right to silence.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Jul 2025 ==


Couldn’t put it better myself!

Thanks for your response. For reference, it was an entrance barrier on my way home from work. The ticket was purchased in the morning before I boarded the train to work. Thanks.

 

[soccermad]

But was the new ticket purchased BEFORE you tried to enter using the invalid ticket, this is important

 

[185]

Return portion of a ticket from 24 May expires 23 June - gateline would reject on 24 June as is expired.

Suspect the "rejected by gateline" flag may have got their attention, to cause them to look at Scan History.

The only reason to contact the retailer is for the passengers details - there's only one ticket here from what I see.

 

[Tetchytyke]

But was the new ticket purchased BEFORE you tried to enter using the invalid ticket, this is important

I don’t think it makes any difference so long as the OP purchased their ticket before boarding the train. It sounds like the ticket barrier did its job, which is to identify invalid tickets and prevent their use. So long as the OP rectified the issue before boarding the train, everything is fine.

An odd one for GA to raise and my advice stands: exercise the right to silence.

ETA: unless the OP is mistaken and they have repeatedly used the same ticket between 23 May and 23 June, in which case the advice may be different. I notice the OP says they “travel regularly”. Has the OP been tempted to use the return portion more than once before the date of the gateline rejection?