TFL fare evasion - gave wrong details, what should i do?

[Stark192]

Hello,


The other day, my phone was snatched while I was in London — it had my Oyster card in the case. I was with a friend at the time, and he offered to tap me in using his card, so I followed him through the gates.


That’s when I was stopped by a Revenue Protection Officer. When they asked for my details, I froze and — out of fear and complete panic — I gave slightly incorrect information: a misspelled version of my name, a wrong door number (but correct street), and the wrong date of birth. I realise now how serious that was.


The officer said I’d be receiving a letter where I could explain what happened. I had a strong urge to go back and correct the information immediately, but I worried that might make things worse. My friend downplayed it at the time, but I’ve since looked into it and understand just how severe the consequences could be.


I’m now extremely anxious. I know that TfL can prosecute, and I genuinely regret not being honest from the beginning. I’m a student and will be applying for jobs soon, so a criminal record would be devastating.


Should I email TfL now to apologise and provide the correct details, and offer to pay any fines or costs to avoid prosecution?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you.

 

[John R]

Did you get anything from the officer that has a reference number that you can quote if you try and tell them your correct details?

 

[Stark192]

No sadly i did not

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hello,


The other day, my phone was snatched while I was in London — it had my Oyster card in the case. I was with a friend at the time, and he offered to tap me in using his card, so I followed him through the gates.


That’s when I was stopped by a Revenue Protection Officer. When they asked for my details, I froze and — out of fear and complete panic — I gave slightly incorrect information: a misspelled version of my name, a wrong door number (but correct street), and the wrong date of birth. I realise now how serious that was.


The officer said I’d be receiving a letter where I could explain what happened. I had a strong urge to go back and correct the information immediately, but I worried that might make things worse. My friend downplayed it at the time, but I’ve since looked into it and understand just how severe the consequences could be.


I’m now extremely anxious. I know that TfL can prosecute, and I genuinely regret not being honest from the beginning. I’m a student and will be applying for jobs soon, so a criminal record would be devastating.


Should I email TfL now to apologise and provide the correct details, and offer to pay any fines or costs to avoid prosecution?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you.

Welcome to the forum!

I know that this isn't answering your main point, but it's important to report the theft of your phone to the police and get a crime number. That will go some way to confirming your story when you discuss it with TfL.

 

[Hadders]

Can you evidence the theft of the phone, either through a police crime reference number or a call to your mobile phone provider to cancel and reissue your SIM card? Being able to do either, or ideally both of these will put you in a stronger position with TfL.

 

[Stark192]

i didnt report it as it was a pretty bad phone anyways

 

[Fawkes Cat]

i didnt report it as it was a pretty bad phone anyways

It's important, then, for you to recognise that your story is implausible. TfL will think that you didn't lose your phone, and you were tailgating your friend to dodge the fare. In my view, and knowing how TfL operate, they will inevitably prosecute you, with everything that means in terms of a fine and a criminal record.

We assume that people who come here for help are honest with us, else we can't give good advice. So on that basis, I advise that you report the loss of your phone (and the Oyster card, which must have had either credit or a travelcard loaded on it for you to travel) to the police and get a crime number. As falsely reporting a crime to the police is a fairly serious offence, I imagine that you will only make the report if it is true.

 

[Hadders]

i didnt report it as it was a pretty bad phone anyways

What about the Oyster card?

TfL normally take a robust position when it comes to things like this. There isn't really anything you can do until you get their Verification Letter but in the meantime I suggest having a read of TfL's Revenue Enforcement & Prosecutions Policy which sets out how they deal with cases. Section 8 is the key section to familiarise yourself with as this sets out the criteria they will consider when deciding whether or not to prosecute.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/revenue-enforcement-and-prosecutions-policy.pdf

 

[Stark192]

i understand, the oyster was in the case, ill take a read thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

Shouldn't I email them about the details I provided?

 

[Hadders]

Shouldn't I email them about the details I provided?

It will be tricky to do so without a case reference number.

Are you able to access post sent to the slightly incorrect address?

 

[Stark192]

i believe i might be able to, they live in the same building

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Shouldn't I email them about the details I provided?

Would the details you gave reach you? You say you gave the right street but the wrong number, and a misspelled version of your name. Depending on how far wrong the number was (number 40 instead of number 4 perhaps, but probably not number 400 instead of 4) and how much you scrambled your name, your postie may well deliver the letter to you anyhow. Or can you call at your neighbours at the address you gave to collect the letter?

As you don't seem to have a reference for your case, if you do end up contacting TfL to give your real details, give as many details as possible of the stop: where (what part of the station as well as which station), when ( to the minute if you possibly can) and who stopped you (gender, ethnicity, whether in uniform or plain clothes) - this should help TfL find your papers and correct your details.

 

[chrisjo]

From the details given in the original post, I can't see how TFL are ever going to track the OP down. They don't have any ticket or card details to follow up, do they?

 

[Stark192]

The details would get close, i can probably ask the neighbour to drop off the letter to my door if they get it and no they don't have any details, no card or ID to follow up.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The details would get close, i can probably ask the neighbour to drop off the letter to my door if they get it and no they don't have any details, no card or ID to follow up.

That’s not quite true, is it? They’ll have the details of your friend who you followed through the gates. Whether they try and contact you via them is a different question - other people may have a view on that

 

[Stark192]

That’s not quite true, is it? They’ll have the details of your friend who you followed through the gates. Whether they try and contact you via them is a different question - other people may have a view on that

Yes, they can contact me via my friend, in which case he can then provide the correct details.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

From the details given in the original post, I can't see how TFL are ever going to track the OP down. They don't have any ticket or card details to follow up, do they?

TfL have a name, address and date of birth. While these seem to be inaccurate, that's enough to start a prosecution. And from what we've seen here, if a prosecution ends up with a fine then the court's bailiffs are pretty good at working out who they really want to pay up - even if the details they have are inaccurate.

 

[Hadders]

i believe i might be able to, they live in the same building

Then that is probably the most straightforward way. Once you get the Verification Letter from TfL you can then then correct the details in your reply to them.

From the details given in the original post, I can't see how TFL are ever going to track the OP down. They don't have any ticket or card details to follow up, do they?

My view if this is a high risk strategy. If the OP does get tracked down then the consequences would be much worse.

 

[AlterEgo]

There is a good likelihood this would escalate to court and the bailiffs would figure out who the correct person was, given they’ve approximated their own details but left them “off” by a small margin. They have access to credit records and the electoral tool for example.

 

[Stark192]

So should i wait a few days for the letter to show up, then correct the details in there or should i email them in advance correcting said details?

 

[Hadders]

So should i wait a few days for the letter to show up, then correct the details in there or should i email them in advance correcting said details?

That’s probably the best course of action. It can take a few weeks for the letter to arrive but TfL are normally one of the faster organisations when it comes to sending out letters.

In the meantime, I suspect you need to have a ‘tricky’ conversation with whoever lives at the false address you gave.

 

[furlong]

What type of Oyster card was it that was stolen from you? Is it registered to you? Does it have your photo? Did it have any kind of free, reduced rate or pre-paid travel on it (e.g. weekly season ticket ) that would have covered the journey you were making when you were stopped? Or would the journey merely have been paid for at the full public rate out of a cash balance stored on the card?

Did you explain about the stolen Oyster card to the officer when you were stopped?

As a student, are you over 18? If not, how old are you? When you gave the false date of birth, did that make it appear that you were under 18?

 

[Stark192]

That’s probably the best course of action. It can take a few weeks for the letter to arrive but TfL are normally one of the faster organisations when it comes to sending out letters.

In the meantime, I suspect you need to have a ‘tricky’ conversation with whoever lives at the false address you gave.

Okay that's what i shall do - but I'm really split on whether I should also email TFL admitting to giving incorrect details and asking to send the letter to the correct address, but I'm afraid that will draw extra attention.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2025 ==

What type of Oyster card was it that was stolen from you? Is it registered to you? Does it have your photo? Did it have any kind of free, reduced rate or pre-paid travel on it (e.g. weekly season ticket ) that would have covered the journey you were making when you were stopped? Or would the journey merely have been paid for at the full public rate out of a cash balance stored on the card?

Did you explain about the stolen Oyster card to the officer when you were stopped?

As a student, are you over 18? If not, how old are you? When you gave the false date of birth, did that make it appear that you were under 18?

it was a zip card, i didnt go into much detail in the time, I just panicked and said I lost it then gave the details. It doesn't help since I didn't report it missing. I also gave a DOB that made me 19 - I know it was stupid, I'm just trying to sort things out properly now and learn from it.

 

[Haywain]

I also gave a DOB that made me 19

So how old are you really?

 

[Stark192]

So how old are you really?

apologies, im 18

 

[Haywain]

apologies, im 18

OK, so that difference makes no material difference.

 

[Hadders]

Okay that's what i shall do - but I'm really split on whether I should also email TFL admitting to giving incorrect details and asking to send the letter to the correct address, but I'm afraid that will draw extra attention.

Neither approach is really wrong. The important thing is you get the letter and reply.

If you do decide to contact TfL then you need to email their Investigations, Appeals and Prosecutions team. Customer services will not be able to assist.

The difficulty is that you haven’t got a case reference number so TfL will have difficulty matching what you tell them to your case. They deal with thousands of cases at a time.

You should give them as many details as possible, such as:

Date, time and place of the incident.
The name and DOB you gave.
The address you gave.
Then give your correct contact details.

Don’t discuss any details of the incident, just confirm your correct details.

 

[Stark192]

Neither approach is really wrong. The important thing is you get the letter and reply.

If you do decide to contact TfL then you need to email their Investigations, Appeals and Prosecutions team. Customer services will not be able to assist.

The difficulty is that you haven’t got a case reference number so TfL will have difficulty matching what you tell them to your case. They deal with thousands of cases at a time.

You should give them as many details as possible, such as:

Date, time and place of the incident.
The name and DOB you gave.
The address you gave.
Then give your correct contact details.

Don’t discuss any details of the incident, just confirm your correct details.

Thank you so much for the advice — I really appreciate it. So far, I’ve tried contacting the neighbour, but no one has answered the door. I’ve left a note briefly explaining the situation and will try again.

If I still don’t get a response, I’ll write an email to TfL providing the correct details. I’ll share a draft of the email here before sending it.

 

[Stark192]

Update: Still no news from the neighbour or the letter, haven't yet emailed TFL either