Greater Anglia Fraud Investigation

[K_uk]

Hello everyone,

Roughly a month ago I had been stopped for using a child's ticket which I am not entitled to, the worker told me my legal rights and did an interview, took my details and during this he had taken photos of my ticket purchase history, (a few more child tickets).

I understand the severity of this however I need help with how to respond to the email I have received, my goal is to pay the fees as opposed to any legal trouble, I don't believe not replying would be in my favor as evidence was taken.

Thank you for any advice.
Re: Trainline / UBER / Greater Anglia account

Following a review of your bookings, several travel irregularities were identified.

We are seeking to ascertain whether a valid ticket was held for these journeys.

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

In your response, please provide any statements or mitigations, as well as any supporting documentation, that you would like us to consider in relation to this matter.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello everyone,

Roughly a month ago I had been stopped for using a child's ticket which I am not entitled to, the worker told me my legal rights and did an interview, took my details and during this he had taken photos of my ticket purchase history, (a few more child tickets).

I understand the severity of this however I need help with how to respond to the email I have received, my goal is to pay the fees as opposed to any legal trouble, I don't believe not replying would be in my favor as evidence was taken.

Thank you for any advice.
Re: Trainline / UBER / Greater Anglia account

so looks like they have found other (possibly similar) such activities on with your digital fingerprints on them - is that correct? correct in the sense you have done this on other occasions I should say.

 

[K_uk]

so looks like they have found other (possibly similar) such activities on with your digital fingerprints on them - is that correct? correct in the sense you have done this on other occasions I should say.

Yes, the worker had taken photos of previous tickets that were not valid for me to use, during the interview I had stated that I purchased them and no one else had used them.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes, the worker had taken photos of previous tickets that were not valid for me to use, during the interview I had stated that I purchased them and no one else had used them.

OK - wanted to check as we frequently see Greater Anglia detecting suspicious tickets using digital data trawls and e-mailing people about them without actually having caught them using one - so the advice is different for such messages - but if they caught you it means that they have enough evidence to prosecute you if they wish to do so - which is likely to be something you wish to avoid by seeking to obtain an out of court settlement offer from them - which there is a good chance of them offering but they will no doubt make a charge for these other suspicious tickets a part of the settlement offer - ie charge you for new tickets for every trip they can find evidence of that they think you have evaded paying the correct fare for - and if you don't pay them for that they will just prosecute you in court for the one occasion you were caught.

In which case the standard advice usually given on this forum applies - and when you have had a read of this have a go at drafting up your response to them based on this advice - but probably best to post your draft here before you send it off to them so people can check it -

I don't think you have posted the full wording of the letter they have sent you - but you need a find a way to address what they are accusing you of in your response, and commit to stop doing it as well as offer to pay them for any fares they believe you owe (or ask them for a list of such fares so you can check it but with the intention of paying for any that were not legitimate / valid tickets).

Here's the standard advice: (clearly you are p[art way through this process as they have contacted you)


Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

 

[K_uk]

OK - wanted to check as we frequently see Greater Anglia detecting suspicious tickets using digital data trawls and e-mailing people about them without actually having caught them using one - so the advice is different for such messages - but if they caught you it means that they have enough evidence to prosecute you if they wish to do so - which is likely to be something you wish to avoid by seeking to obtain an out of court settlement offer from them - which there is a good chance of them offering but they will no doubt make a charge for these other suspicious tickets a part of the settlement offer - ie charge you for new tickets for every trip they can find evidence of that they think you have evaded paying the correct fare for - and if you don't pay them for that they will just prosecute you in court for the one occasion you were caught.

In which case the standard advice usually given on this forum applies - and when you have had a read of this have a go at drafting up your response to them based on this advice - but probably best to post your draft here before you send it off to them so people can check it -

I don't think you have posted the full wording of the letter they have sent you - but you need a find a way to address what they are accusing you of in your response, and commit to stop doing it as well as offer to pay them for any fares they believe you owe (or ask them for a list of such fares so you can check it but with the intention of paying for any that were not legitimate / valid tickets).

Here's the standard advice: (clearly you are p[art way through this process as they have contacted you)


Firstly, you committed a criminal offence by travelling with an invalid ticket and railway companies are entitled to prosecute you in the Magistrates Court if they want to. The good news is they will normally offer an out of court settlement to people who co-operate with them and who haven't come to their attention before.

Next, what happens is the railway company will write to you. The letter will go to the address that you gave them / on any of your ID they checked so you need to be able to access hard copy post at that address as they often send things that way (but also check e-mail and spam). It is extremely important that you reply, and you'll only have a limited time to do so (often 14 days from the date on their communication).

When you receive the letter post a redacted copy of it in this thread, along with your draft reply and forum members will proof read it for you. You'll find lots of example letters you can use in this section of the forum but the reply basically needs to mention:

- That you are sorry for what has happened
- What you have learned from the incident and will not do this again
- That you are keen to settle the matter without the need for court action
- Offer to pay the outstanding fare and the railway company’s administrative costs in dealing with the matter

The railway will probably offer you an out of court settlement. Expect to have to pay the cost of the fare for the journey you made at the full Anytime rate with no credit given for the invalid ticket you purchased. In addition they will charge an admin fee, typically £150. They will also audit your online ticket purchase history and if this shows you've purchased other tickets that were not valid (eg railcard discounted tickets when you did not have a valid railcard, or tickets for only part of the journey, or tickets bought after boarding the train you travelled on ) they will probably factor the cost of these journeys into the settlement offer. Depending on how many journeys you've made over the period concerned this could end up being expensive.

Settlements usually have to be paid in full within a few days of them being offered so if money is tight you might want to think about how you will raise the sum required at short notice.

Dear Greater Anglia,

I am writing to admit to and sincerely apologise for using child tickets when I was not eligible to them.
I fully accept that this was wrong and unlawful, I was not aware of the extent of my actions and consequences in this.

I understand that purchasing the correct ticket is necessary for using your services and I regret that I failed to do that.

I assure you that I will never repeat this mistake. I value being able to travel on your services and I deeply and sincerely regret purchasing the wrong tickets in previous travelling.

I respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter by paying any outstanding fares and penalty fare and admin fee.

Once again, I sincerely apologise for my behaviour and for any inconvenience caused.

Yours faithfully, (name)

Thank you for your reply. I have written out an email and I'm wondering if it's reasonable to send?

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for your reply. I have written out an email and I'm wondering if it's reasonable to send?

I would go less on the overt admission of breaking the law eg rephrase your first paragraph. For example

‘I’m writing to apologise for travelling with child rate tickets when I was not entitled to do so. I accept that this was wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret’

Later on I would not use the word ‘mistake’ (you are saying mistake in the wrong context as it were so it reads wrongly as presumably you deliberately selected child tickets so it’s not actually a mistake if you get my point)

Also don’t offer to pay penalty fares. Instead offer to pay ‘any fares I owe’

If you have time before their deadline wait 24 hours before replying so other forum members can take a look and make suggestions to your draft.

 

[K_uk]

I would go less on the overt admission of breaking the law eg rephrase your first paragraph. For example

‘I’m writing to apologise for travelling with child rate tickets when I was not entitled to do so. I accept that this was wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret’

Later on I would not use the word ‘mistake’ (you are saying mistake in the wrong context as it were so it reads wrongly as presumably you deliberately selected child tickets so it’s not actually a mistake if you get my point)

Also don’t offer to pay penalty fares. Instead offer to pay ‘any fares I owe’

If you have time before their deadline wait 24 hours before replying so other forum members can take a look and make suggestions to your draft.

Dear Greater Anglia,

I’m writing to apologise for travelling with child rate tickets when I was not entitled to do so. I accept that this was wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret.
I was not aware of the extent of my actions and consequences in this.

I understand that purchasing the correct ticket is necessary for using your services and I deeply regret that I failed to do that.

I assure you that I will never repeat this error. I value being able to travel on your services and I deeply and sincerely regret purchasing the wrong tickets in previous travelling.

I respectfully ask that you consider allowing me to resolve this matter swiftly by paying any fares that I owe.

Once again, I sincerely apologise for my behaviour and for any inconvenience caused.

Yours faithfully,

Thank you so much, I've reworded it a bit, I replaced 'mistake' with 'error' and changed it to 'any fares that I owe', would you consider it to be fairly written/effective?

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you so much, I've reworded it a bit, I replaced 'mistake' with 'error' and changed it to 'any fares that I owe', would you consider it to be fairly written/effective?

Probably add to what u are offering to pay ‘as well as any administrative costs related to this’

As that is usually suggested on this forum.

Have you estimated for your own awareness how often you did this and thus how many instances they might have found if child rate tickets on your account? I’m not suggesting that needs to be part of your response but if they think you are cooperating the sum they will ask for will reflect that actual ticket record plus the admin cost. You’ll want to know if they broadly gave that sum correct.

If this is uncertain you could end your letter with an alternative approach ie after offering to pay what you owe you could say eg

‘I am anxious to resolve this matter, please could you send me a list of travel you believe has been undertaken without the correct ticket so that I can check against my own records’.

 

[K_uk]

Probably add to what u are offering to pay ‘as well as any administrative costs related to this’

As that is usually suggested on this forum.

Have you estimated for your own awareness how often you did this and thus how many instances they might have found if child rate tickets on your account? I’m not suggesting that needs to be part of your response but if they think you are cooperating the sum they will ask for will reflect that actual ticket record plus the admin cost. You’ll want to know if they broadly gave that sum correct.

If this is uncertain you could end your letter with an alternative approach ie after offering to pay what you owe you could say eg

‘I am anxious to resolve this matter, please could you send me a list of travel you believe has been undertaken without the correct ticket so that I can check against my own records’.

Thanks for your reply I appreciate it, I am aware it was a total of 7 child tickets so I have little concern for the amount as the stops were between just 1 station, adding the quote you've given me do you believe that would be a complete and appropriate email to send? Thank you again

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for your reply I appreciate it, I am aware it was a total of 7 child tickets so I have little concern for the amount as the stops were between just 1 station, adding the quote you've given me do you believe that would be a complete and appropriate email to send? Thank you again

Given that is not many and you can work out what that cost you may not need to ask them for a list of occasions they think you have bought child tickets unless they come back to you asking for a much higher sum than you expected. Bear in mind they will charge an Anytime Single fare for each one way trip taken with nothing allowed for the invalid child tickets you did buy.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Feb 2026 ==

Some minor tweaks that are probably not vital as below - I deleted the bit about not being aware of the extent of your actions as you must have been aware of doing it - but think you meant something a bit different so I amended that for clarity:


Dear Greater Anglia,

I’m writing to apologise for travelling with child rate tickets when I was not entitled to do so. I accept that this was wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret.

I was not aware of the severe consequences of my actions in doing this, which I now properly appreciate.

I understand that purchasing the correct ticket is necessary for using your services and I deeply regret that I failed to do that.

I assure you that I will never repeat this error. I value being able to travel on your services and I deeply and sincerely regret purchasing the wrong tickets for previous journeys. in previous travelling.

I respectfully ask that you kindly consider allowing me to resolve this matter swiftly and without legal action by me paying any fares that I owe and your costs in dealing with this matter.

Once again, I sincerely apologise for my behaviour and for any inconvenience caused.

Yours faithfully,

 

[z444z]

The above looks good to me. To be picky, I’d consider removing the “once again” paragraph at the end to put the emphasis on the request to settle, and use the words “out of court settlement” or “settle out of court” to make it really clear. Don’t forget to put the reference number right at the top.

 

[greatkingrat]

Wouldn't it be better to start off with a brief email just asking for details of the irregularities? You don't know for certain this is related to the child ticket you were caught using, it could be something else they have found in their regular data trawls.

 

[WesternLancer]

Wouldn't it be better to start off with a brief email just asking for details of the irregularities? You don't know for certain this is related to the child ticket you were caught using, it could be something else they have found in their regular data trawls.

There would be no harm in doing this at this initial stage.

The drafted up message could then be used later depending on what irregularities they decide to inform the op if.

 

[K_uk]

Given that is not many and you can work out what that cost you may not need to ask them for a list of occasions they think you have bought child tickets unless they come back to you asking for a much higher sum than you expected. Bear in mind they will charge an Anytime Single fare for each one way trip taken with nothing allowed for the invalid child tickets you did buy.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Feb 2026 ==

Some minor tweaks that are probably not vital as below - I deleted the bit about not being aware of the extent of your actions as you must have been aware of doing it - but think you meant something a bit different so I amended that for clarity:


Dear Greater Anglia,

I’m writing to apologise for travelling with child rate tickets when I was not entitled to do so. I accept that this was wrong. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret.

I was not aware of the severe consequences of my actions in doing this, which I now properly appreciate.

I understand that purchasing the correct ticket is necessary for using your services and I deeply regret that I failed to do that.

I assure you that I will never repeat this error. I value being able to travel on your services and I deeply and sincerely regret purchasing the wrong tickets for previous journeys. in previous travelling.

I respectfully ask that you kindly consider allowing me to resolve this matter swiftly and without legal action by me paying any fares that I owe and your costs in dealing with this matter.

Once again, I sincerely apologise for my behaviour and for any inconvenience caused.

Yours faithfully,

Thanks for all the help! Because it's a first time offense it's simply going to be a payment, I received the email this morning and it was significantly cheaper than I had expected, luckily affordable at £130 !

 

[WesternLancer]

Thanks for all the help! Because it's a first time offense it's simply going to be a payment, I received the email this morning and it was significantly cheaper than I had expected, luckily affordable at £130 !

Thanks for the update - that's a good outcome

Obviously you'll need to make sure you have correct tickets from now on. If a Railcard or a Season ticket could help reduce your fares then you could consider getting one if eligible.