Greater Anglia Fraud Investigation Email

[RailRoadMan93]

Hi guys,

I have been doing some research on this I have received the same letter man others have received and just wanted some advice.

I would like to see this matter closed as quick as possible but the most common advice I've seen is 'Ignore' and 'It's an exercise to catch you'

Is that truly the case?

I have paid fines and been caught in my younger years but now I pay full fare regularly. Any advice on how to proceed?

The email is below:
(seemingly generic and similar to others I've seen)

Good Afternoon,
We are emailing from the Greater Anglia fraud department. We have been investigating industry data and have been led to believe you are potentially not paying full fares on Greater Anglia services. There appear to be a number of incorrectly purchased tickets showing on your account that are a breach of our terms and conditions and considered fraudulent activity. Please refer to our Revenue Protection and Prosecutions Policy: Revenue Protection & Prosecutions Policy .
Attached is a letter for you to read.
Please respond within 7 days to potentially settle this case.
Kind regards

Revenue Protection Fraud and Investigations Team

If I'm honest to make the matter closed I'd be willing to pay a fine and settle but how do they calculate how much that could be?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[z444z]

Yes, ignore.

 

[30907]

Yes, ignore.

And continue to make sure that every ticket you buy is absolutely correct - if you slip up and are caught, they will have better grounds for doing a trawl.

 

[RailRoadMan93]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to dig a little deeper into being certain I should just ignore? Is it because genuinely is just a phising exercise? or any other reason why I shouldn't be too worried?
No doubt, I'll continue to keep paying full fare.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to dig a little deeper into being certain I should just ignore? Is it because genuinely is just a phising exercise? or any other reason why I shouldn't be too worried?
No doubt, I'll continue to keep paying full fare.

A key question would be have you in the last say 8 months been stopped and questioned about the validity of any rail tickets in person?

Think carefully about that but I think you would know if you had been.

 

[z444z]

or any other reason why I shouldn't be too worried?

Because we know that these emails are NOT what they send when they have sufficient evidence to take action.

 

[Gonzoiku]

Yes, ignore.

Of course, but I would find it hard NOT to respond to "you are potentially not paying full fares" by admitting that we are all /potentially/ not paying full fares, but thanks for the heads up, i will make sure to continue to pay full fares.

In other words 'potentially' is not a synonym for 'possibly'.

GZ

Edited to add NOT

 

[Kite159]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to dig a little deeper into being certain I should just ignore? Is it because genuinely is just a phising exercise? or any other reason why I shouldn't be too worried?
No doubt, I'll continue to keep paying full fare.

Which you should be doing anyhow, just have the email down as a warning that they have noticed irregular things happening (short faring to bypass ticket gates, only buying a ticket moments before it gets scanned to leave a station etc).

Because if you decide to play the system and get caught, it might get expensive to settle out of court.

 

[SussexMan]

I have paid fines and been caught in my younger years but now I pay full fare regularly.

It may be how you have phrased it but that could come across as "I regularly pay the full fare (but not always)". (Or you could mean regularly because you travel regularly - and always pay your fare)

If I'm honest to make the matter closed I'd be willing to pay a fine and settle but how do they calculate how much that could be?

What is there to settle if you have not done anything wrong? Seems a very strange response. The usual response by people who always have a valid ticket for every part of their journey is to protest their innocence.

Going forward, make sure you always have a valid ticket (with a valid in-date railcard if applicable) and consider buying your tickets elsewhere.

The response to the letter is up to you but you could ignore (it is very unlikely that they have sufficient evidence to actually do anything), or if you have been dodging fares and you are the sort of person who will worry about this and you want to put things right, then you could respond to the email. That's a personal thing for you. I wouldn't advise agreeing to settle if you have not done anything wrong.

 

[spotify95]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to dig a little deeper into being certain I should just ignore? Is it because genuinely is just a phising exercise? or any other reason why I shouldn't be too worried?
No doubt, I'll continue to keep paying full fare.

Did you get stopped by a ticket inspector with a problematic ticket (not valid) within the last 6 months?

If not then it's safe to ignore this - the emails (often circulated by WMR, but GA have done this also) are just a fishing exercise for you to drop yourself in trouble and give them enough ammunition to force a settlement.

For offences dealt with under the Railway Bylaws (and RoRA) they need to lay papers to the court within 6 months of the incident. So if you haven't been stopped, the ToC can't prove anything and they won't be able to lay papers in front of a court!

(The only other difference is the Fraud Act - with no time limit - however has a much higher burden of proof - and if you've already paid penalty fares then those cases are already dealt with.)

Of course, make sure to always buy the correct and valid tickets prior to boarding so that the ToC can't pull you up on anything else later down the line.

 

[RailRoadMan93]

A key question would be have you in the last say 8 months been stopped and questioned about the validity of any rail tickets in person?

Think carefully about that but I think you would know if you had been.

I hadn't been stopped in the past 8 months prior to the notice. Strange.

 

[WesternLancer]

I hadn't been stopped in the past 8 months prior to the notice. Strange.

so that would mean they do not have evidence of 'caught in the act' fare evasion that they could use in court within the 6 months timescale to do that for this offence.
Which in my view supports the advice above to ignore therefore.

But head back here of necessary at any point

 

[RailRoadMan93]

Hey Guys,

Thank you for all the replies, I have taken those on board for sure.

I got a reply, any advice on what next?

Thanks

Good Morning,
We have not received any contact from you; you were previously contacted on 16/01/2026.
At this stage we would like to offer you an opportunity to explain these irregularities on your account, and based on your response the decision will be to either offer you the opportunity to repay any funds relating to these journeys (plus our administration fee), (b) to forward your case to our prosecutions department for processing or (c) close your case (if sufficient evidence has been provided and proved).

If we do not hear from you within the next 5 working days, you will lose any opportunity to settle this case with us.


Kind regards

Revenue Protection Fraud and Investigations Team

 

[z444z]

Continue to ignore. There is no case to settle, they have no evidence.

 

[hereandthere_2]

Continue to ignore I’m currently doing the same and haven’t received an email since Mid December

 

[z444z]

Continue to ignore I’m currently doing the same and haven’t received an email since Mid December

This is helpful, thanks. How many did you receive in total?

 

[hereandthere_2]

This is helpful, thanks. How many did you receive in total?

So I replied the initial email and then they sent another on 17th of December saying if they don’t hear from me they’ll be passing me over to prosecutions team but haven’t heard anything back

 

[z444z]

So I replied the initial email and then they sent another on 17th of December saying if they don’t hear from me they’ll be passing me over to prosecutions team but haven’t heard anything back

As expected - thanks!

 

[riceuten]

I suspect what MAY have triggered this case is you buying a one off full fare ticket when you didn't have the opportunity/means to get a railcard discounted ticket.

I did this recently when I left my Senior Railcard at home and wonder if I may receive a similar letter, them assuming I have been travelling on an expired or non-existent railcard

 

[AlterEgo]

I suspect what MAY have triggered this case is you buying a one off full fare ticket when you didn't have the opportunity/means to get a railcard discounted ticket.

I did this recently when I left my Senior Railcard at home and wonder if I may receive a similar letter, them assuming I have been travelling on an expired or non-existent railcard

People's railcards expire all the time, only the OP will know why they may have received this letter. They have been stopped in the past year and they are willing to pay "a fine".

 

[MarlowDonkey]

I did this recently when I left my Senior Railcard at home and wonder if I may receive a similar letter, them assuming I have been travelling on an expired or non-existent railcard

They only know who bought the ticket, not who used it for travel.

 

[AlterEgo]

They only know who bought the ticket, not who used it for travel.

Doesn't stop them sending fraud emails to a lot of people who have merely been buying tickets and have never been stopped.

 

[crocadillo_]

So I replied the initial email and then they sent another on 17th of December saying if they don’t hear from me they’ll be passing me over to prosecutions team but haven’t heard anything back

Can I ask - what did you say in your initial email?

I received this letter this afternoon and indignantly responded straight away asking them for clarification on what journeys are being investigated as I genuinely had no idea. But now all the advice I'm seeing is to ignore and I'm concerned I've opened the doors of communication!

Like OP I have had fines/indiscretions in my youngers years which were all sorted (or so I thought) The last of these was 2023 and I have paid my correct fares since.

After reading the forums the only mistake I have made since is buying a ticket just before going through the gate as I was admittedly unorganised then had to corral my toddler before/during travel, but the tickets was from the station I'd travelled from and tbh had completely forgotten about it.

The letter has the 'Re: trainline/uber/greater anglia' subject also so I wondered if it could be related to a compensation claim I made for a group journey. We had an open return ticket and all the trains around the time we wanted to travel home were significantly delayed so as a group we decided to take an Uber home. This was booked by another member of the group so I'm wondering if they think I was making a fraudulent claim as the Uber was not booked on my account and I guess they could see that if they're sharing data. The claim never went anywhere though, and I never received any compensation. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?

Obviously shouldn't have fired off the email straight away, but I was just so annoyed at the accusation

 

[WesternLancer]

Can I ask - what did you say in your initial email?

I received this letter this afternoon and indignantly responded straight away asking them for clarification on what journeys are being investigated as I genuinely had no idea. But now all the advice I'm seeing is to ignore and I'm concerned I've opened the doors of communication!

Might be worth you starting your own thread if this escalates - is your e-mail exactly the same as the one received by the OP in this thread?

The key thing to think about is - have you ever been stopped and questioned by a member of railway staff in person and asked about any sort of ticket irregularity? If not, however, indignant you might feel, best to ignore these messages - tho of course most people who receive them will not know to do that.

If your reply results in a further e-mail from the railway - do not respond to it until you have come to this forum for advice on that I suggest

Like OP I have had fines/indiscretions in my youngers years which were all sorted (or so I thought) The last of these was 2023 and I have paid my correct fares since.

That's not that long ago - they could easily have gone back 6 years I suspect - something you did them might well have flagged your account now I suppose - even if you think you sorted them at the time - this might be the cause of a message now perhaps. After all I doubt you were caught on every time you didn't pay the correct fare back in those days....(if so it would be very bad luck for you )

After reading the forums the only mistake I have made since is buying a ticket just before going through the gate as I was admittedly unorganised then had to corral my toddler before/during travel, but the tickets was from the station I'd travelled from and tbh had completely forgotten about it.

Buying before going through a ticket gate is not an offence, nor is buying after going through an open gate - the offence is boarding the train before buying the ticket - so I can't see it would be this

The letter has the 'Re: trainline/uber/greater anglia' subject also so I wondered if it could be related to a compensation claim I made for a group journey. We had an open return ticket and all the trains around the time we wanted to travel home were significantly delayed so as a group we decided to take an Uber home. This was booked by another member of the group so I'm wondering if they think I was making a fraudulent claim as the Uber was not booked on my account and I guess they could see that if they're sharing data. The claim never went anywhere though, and I never received any compensation. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?

Seems unlikely to be that, esp if they did not pay out - sounds like you should have been entitled to and paid Delay -Repay compensation - probably far too late now but this forum could have helped you obtain what you might have been owed had you know to come here at the time!

Obviously shouldn't have fired off the email straight away, but I was just so annoyed at the accusation

I'd advise taking your ticket buying custom elsewhere in future (but don't delete your old account with Uber etc or whoever has shared this data in case you need to access it to find evidence to defend your self) - but give your business to someone that sells tickets that does not routinely then share it with people who accuse you of being a fare evader - other retailers are available...

 

[hereandthere_2]

Can I ask - what did you say in your initial email?

I received this letter this afternoon and indignantly responded straight away asking them for clarification on what journeys are being investigated as I genuinely had no idea. But now all the advice I'm seeing is to ignore and I'm concerned I've opened the doors of communication!

Like OP I have had fines/indiscretions in my youngers years which were all sorted (or so I thought) The last of these was 2023 and I have paid my correct fares since.

After reading the forums the only mistake I have made since is buying a ticket just before going through the gate as I was admittedly unorganised then had to corral my toddler before/during travel, but the tickets was from the station I'd travelled from and tbh had completely forgotten about it.

The letter has the 'Re: trainline/uber/greater anglia' subject also so I wondered if it could be related to a compensation claim I made for a group journey. We had an open return ticket and all the trains around the time we wanted to travel home were significantly delayed so as a group we decided to take an Uber home. This was booked by another member of the group so I'm wondering if they think I was making a fraudulent claim as the Uber was not booked on my account and I guess they could see that if they're sharing data. The claim never went anywhere though, and I never received any compensation. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?

Obviously shouldn't have fired off the email straight away, but I was just so annoyed at the accusation

Hey man sorry just seen this! Honestly just ignore I haven’t heard anything since then haha