GA travel irregularities

[summerb]

6 days ago, I received the GA travel irregularities letter associated with fraud investigation. To give a bit of background, I have a valid railcard, but Truthfully, I shortfare. In the sense that I buy a ticket just to leave the station when the barriers are closed, even when the train ticket bought hasn't departed. I'm definitely going to stop it. I've stopped it. In the space of 6 months, I've paid penalty fares twice, one by GA, the other by SE. I settled it immediately.
Now, I'm afraid because I've heard that a third penalty fare leads to court issues. I've not responded to the email but I'm afraid as I don't want anything that'll backfire in the future.
I know the general recommendation here is to ignore but I'm afraid they might be serious because I saw on Google that since I've been flagged twice for paying penalty fare, and now I'm not replying their mails, they might take it serious.
I also don't know whether to reply because I feel that if eventually I pay, they may see it's the third time and take it seriously...
I honestly don't want issues for myself.
Checked google, they said it is not good not to reply, that at least, one should send a neutral email asking for what journeys they meant... Please I need your advice.

Also, I have stopped buying tickets from train line, I've switched to buying from the ticket vending machines. Is that a good advice going forward? And I've been buying my full fares, and I won't go back.

 

[Sun Chariot]

To help us, please add a post with one of the following:
1) a screen-shot of the letter you received (mask out your personal details and their reference ID in that letter),
2) write exactly what the letter to you says.

Thanks.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Also, I have stopped buying tickets from train line, I've switched to buying from the ticket vending machines

If you haven’t done so already, DON’T delete your Trainline account. Deleting would mean you lose access to the data in it, which might be useful in the future, but the train company would still be able to see and use it

 

[summerb]

This is the letter
Good morning,
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

Then a pdf letter that is addressed to my name
Dear my name
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.
Yours sincerely,
Siobhan Watts
Fraud and Investigations

 

[WesternLancer]

If your circumstances are the same as these below (ie you have not actually been stopped and caught with a non valid ticket over the last 6 to 7 months) AND if you have paid the Penalty Fares you mention already - then read these other threads carefully and study the advice given

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Greater Anglia prosecution threat - what to do

Hi Everyone, I recently got this email from Greater Anglia. "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...

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Greater Anglia Fraud Investigation Email

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...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Sun Chariot]

If your circumstances are the same as these below (ie you have not actually been stopped and caught with a non valid ticket over the last 6 to 7 months) AND if you have paid the Penalty Fares you mention already - then read these

Thanks @WesternLancer .

Hello @summerb - your opening post states:
"...I buy a ticket just to leave the station when the barriers are closed, even when the train ticket bought hasn't departed ... In the space of 6 months, I've paid penalty fares twice, one by GA, the other by SE. I settled it immediately."
- so I will let others advise you whether the linked threads are applicable to your scenario.

 

[summerb]

Thank you all for your advice so far.
So if I get it, I shouldn't reply at all? Switch to getting paper tickets but not deleting my train line account, purchase full fare tickets now henceforth
It's worth noting also that the letter was addressed to my name, is it worth worrying about?
Also, the PF I got from GA was in March, I paid for it right away. The other one from SE was like a month after, my details were collected but I paid for it within 21 days. After that, nothing has happened

I shouldn't still bother?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2026 ==

Thanks @WesternLancer .

Hello @summerb - your opening post states:
"...I buy a ticket just to leave the station when the barriers are closed, even when the train ticket bought hasn't departed ... In the space of 6 months, I've paid penalty fares twice, one by GA, the other by SE. I settled it immediately."
- so I will let others advise you whether the linked threads are applicable to your scenario.

So what do you say, after these times, I haven't been stopped by any inspector.
I should still ignore? And if they send the other one that says to reply within 5 days, I should ignore as well.
But then, wouldn't it have any future backlash?
If you could help me tag more veterans on this forum to give their takes, I'd be happy. Thank you

 

[Ailsa_Craig]

Thank you all for your advice so far.
So if I get it, I shouldn't reply at all? Switch to getting paper tickets but not deleting my train line account, purchase full fare tickets now henceforth
It's worth noting also that the letter was addressed to my name, is it worth worrying about?
Also, the PF I got from GA was in March, I paid for it right away. The other one from SE was like a month after, my details were collected but I paid for it within 21 days. After that, nothing has happened

I shouldn't still bother?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2026 ==


So what do you say, after these times, I haven't been stopped by any inspector.
I should still ignore? And if they send the other one that says to reply within 5 days, I should ignore as well.
But then, wouldn't it have any future backlash?
If you could help me tag more veterans on this forum to give their takes, I'd be happy. Thank you

Ignore this and any subsequent communications. They are fishing, but unlikely to have sufficient evidence to take things further. Don't assist them.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I should still ignore? And if they send the other one that says to reply within 5 days, I should ignore as well.
But then, wouldn't it have any future backlash?

I reconmend you do not reply to GA's recent letter to you. Their wording is one of belief-not-yet-proven-true:
"We 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."
And:
"We are seeking to ascertain whether a valid ticket was held for these journeys."

However, in light of you being caught fare-evading in March and again in April - regardless that you paid each Penalty Fare - then it is highly possible GA fraud team will send you a follow-up correspondence, showing the digital tickets you've purchased where GA - on the balance of probability and with their experience of spotting short-faring patterns - suspect you of fare-avoidance.

If you haven't already done so, do read the relevant threads linked in Post 5.

Only you know exactly how long you have been fare-evading and how many journeys. That's why I recommend you need to await further correspondence from GA, assuming they send it to you.

That is the point when you will know how much GA seeks to recover from you. Do not ignore that letter and do not avoid replying to GA; else you create a risk of facing more serious proceedings against you to recover debt from you.

 

[WesternLancer]

Just to pick up on your message here - and I know since posting others have given clear advice

Thank you all for your advice so far.
So if I get it, I shouldn't reply at all? Switch to getting paper tickets but not deleting my train line account, purchase full fare tickets now henceforth

Basically yes - ref the paper tickets are potentially trackable too, juts not as easily as ones with QR codes (the magnetic strip on the back of old style paper tickets has info encoded in it and new paper tickets have qr codes)

But going forward do not dodge the fares - you are on their radar now so that manes if they caught you red handed they would link you to their digital records that they have used to e-mail you with and then join the dots. Extremely likely to have consequences (either to prosecute you in court for the case where they caught you red handed / and or seek the money for all the other occasions they have found that they regard as suspicious as part of the action they can take as a result of catching you).

It's worth noting also that the letter was addressed to my name, is it worth worrying about?

Well, only in as much as it shows you are on their radar - see above comment

Also, the PF I got from GA was in March, I paid for it right away. The other one from SE was like a month after, my details were collected but I paid for it within 21 days. After that, nothing has happened

It's theoretically possible for a train company to withdraw a Penalty fare and prosecute instead AIUI - but if you have paid them I believe this would not happen. It may not even be possible for it to happen. So I don;t think you need to worry about that happeneing.

I shouldn't still bother?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2026 ==

That is what people are saying here

So what do you say, after these times, I haven't been stopped by any inspector.
I should still ignore? And if they send the other one that says to reply within 5 days, I should ignore as well.

This is what people are saying yes.

Personally I generally think fare evaders should do the right thing and pay up what they owe (so asking me might not get the answer that saves you money ) - but that's my opinion. Others on here feel that these digital phishing expeditions should be ignored and the railway should work harder to actually catch evaders - but either way it does show you how they can track you, find out what you have done and if they wanted they could try to find you. I don't think they will (big money evaders might find things work out differently for them - eg they can organise a 'sting' to use plain clothes inspectors or even the Transport Police to follow and catch someone red handed because it makes sense to do that with people who are dodging a lot of high cost fares) - but it shows to you that they can use IT to identify people they think are ripping them off...
Some people who get these e-mail will panic, and offer to pay up - that's what the railway wants - it's a quick and easy way to get the money they are owed by people who are doing what you did.

But then, wouldn't it have any future backlash?
If you could help me tag more veterans on this forum to give their takes, I'd be happy. Thank you

You'll see others have pitched in with views and on the other threads you will see posts from @AlterEgo , as one example, who takes a clear line on these sorts of e-mails

 

[summerb]

I reconmend you do not reply to GA's recent letter to you. Their wording is one of belief-not-yet-proven-true:
"We 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."
And:
"We are seeking to ascertain whether a valid ticket was held for these journeys."

However, in light of you being caught fare-evading in March and again in April - regardless that you paid each Penalty Fare - then it is highly possible GA fraud team will send you a follow-up correspondence, showing the digital tickets you've purchased where GA - on the balance of probability and with their experience of spotting short-faring patterns - suspect you of fare-avoidance.

If you haven't already done so, do read the relevant threads linked in Post 5.

Only you know exactly how long you have been fare-evading and how many journeys. That's why I recommend you need to await further correspondence from GA, assuming they send it to you.

That is the point when you will know how much GA seeks to recover from you. Do not ignore that letter and do not avoid replying to GA; else you create a risk of facing more serious proceedings against you to recover debt from you.

Thank you for your response.
So sorry, I really don't understand this. Does this mean I should have replied to them? The 7 days is passed, and they've sent this one.
Good afternoon,
We have not received any contact from you; you were previously contacted on /07/2026.
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....

Further advice please, do I respond now? Or continue to ignore?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2026 ==

Just to pick up on your message here - and I know since posting others have given clear advice


Basically yes - ref the paper tickets are potentially trackable too, juts not as easily as ones with QR codes (the magnetic strip on the back of old style paper tickets has info encoded in it and new paper tickets have qr codes)

But going forward do not dodge the fares - you are on their radar now so that manes if they caught you red handed they would link you to their digital records that they have used to e-mail you with and then join the dots. Extremely likely to have consequences (either to prosecute you in court for the case where they caught you red handed / and or seek the money for all the other occasions they have found that they regard as suspicious as part of the action they can take as a result of catching you).


Well, only in as much as it shows you are on their radar - see above comment


It's theoretically possible for a train company to withdraw a Penalty fare and prosecute instead AIUI - but if you have paid them I believe this would not happen. It may not even be possible for it to happen. So I don;t think you need to worry about that happeneing.


That is what people are saying here

This is what people are saying yes.

Personally I generally think fare evaders should do the right thing and pay up what they owe (so asking me might not get the answer that saves you money ) - but that's my opinion. Others on here feel that these digital phishing expeditions should be ignored and the railway should work harder to actually catch evaders - but either way it does show you how they can track you, find out what you have done and if they wanted they could try to find you. I don't think they will (big money evaders might find things work out differently for them - eg they can organise a 'sting' to use plain clothes inspectors or even the Transport Police to follow and catch someone red handed because it makes sense to do that with people who are dodging a lot of high cost fares) - but it shows to you that they can use IT to identify people they think are ripping them off...
Some people who get these e-mail will panic, and offer to pay up - that's what the railway wants - it's a quick and easy way to get the money they are owed by people who are doing what you did.


You'll see others have pitched in with views and on the other threads you will see posts from @AlterEgo , as one example, who takes a clear line on these sorts of e-mails

Thank you very much western lancer. Yes, I've been purchasing full fares since after then.

 

[tatitiliti]

Thank you for your response.
So sorry, I really don't understand this. Does this mean I should have replied to them? The 7 days is passed, and they've sent this one.
Good afternoon,
We have not received any contact from you; you were previously contacted on /07/2026.
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....

Further advice please, do I respond now? Or continue to ignore?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2026 ==


Thank you very much western lancer. Yes, I've been purchasing full fares since after then.

This is the standard follow-up from GA that we see every time. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Hello @summerb -
does the latest correspondence from Greater Anglia have any documentation showing exactly which journeys GA suspects you fare-avoided?

- If GA didn't send any documentation, then I reconmend you do not reply to GA's recent letter to you.

- If GA did include supporting documentation, then - ideally - please put a copy on here so we can collectively advise you.

 

[summerb]

Hello @summerb -
does the latest correspondence from Greater Anglia have any documentation showing exactly which journeys GA suspects you fare-avoided?

- If GA didn't send any documentation, then I reconmend you do not reply to GA's recent letter to you.

- If GA did include supporting documentation, then - ideally - please put a copy on here so we can collectively advise you.

Not at all, they didn't include any particular journey at all...

 

[SECR 65]

It can be seen that GA don't know for certain what journeys they're talking about. However, they definitely have a good idea. They will not have sufficient evidence to take legal action againgst you - so don't reply, as others have said.

[Note edits added for clarity of message]

 

[Haywain]

Further advice please, do I respond now? Or continue to ignore?

Do not respond.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It can be seen that GA don't know what journeys they're talking about for sure.

Just to add that Greater Anglia will know exactly which journeys are suspicious. They will have done a data trawl for [tickets between common short faring station pair] and the OP will have been flagged because they buy a lot of [tickets between common short faring station pair]. With e-tickets they can usually also see when the ticket was bought (e.g. thirty seconds before you exited the station) and when it was scanned (e.g. thirty seconds after you bought it).

GA haven't said this because an open-ended question is often a nice way of trapping people in a lie. It's a remarkably effective interview technique. People in receipt of these emails will try and 'fill in the blanks'- it is human nature to do so, especially if you know you've been up to no good- and may well end up inadvertently incriminating themselves.

Further advice please

1. For the love of God, pay your fares.
2. Ignore their correspondence.
3. For the love of God, pay your fares.

 

[summerb]

Just to add that Greater Anglia will know exactly which journeys are suspicious. They will have done a data trawl for [tickets between common short faring station pair] and the OP will have been flagged because they buy a lot of [tickets between common short faring station pair]. With e-tickets they can usually also see when the ticket was bought (e.g. thirty seconds before you exited the station) and when it was scanned (e.g. thirty seconds after you bought it).

GA haven't said this because an open-ended question is often a nice way of trapping people in a lie. It's a remarkably effective interview technique. People in receipt of these emails will try and 'fill in the blanks'- it is human nature to do so, especially if you know you've been up to no good- and may well end up inadvertently incriminating themselves.


1. For the love of God, pay your fares.
2. Ignore their correspondence.
3. For the love of God, pay your fares.

Thank you so much. Yes, I've been paying my fares ever since after the incident and will continue to pay it.

It's not actually a lot of it that I bought, it's maybe like once a month for like 3-4 months...i don'tgo that route everytime.....I would have even said to pay whatever and settle the issue, but I thought about it again as I've had 2 penalty fares in the past and I was worried they might not issue a PF the third time and just take the matter straight to court or something.
But I've taken all advice now. I'd never do such a thing anymore. And I've been buying paper tickets from the TVM . I'm still scared to get etickets...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2026 ==

Also.

Just to add that Greater Anglia will know exactly which journeys are suspicious. They will have done a data trawl for [tickets between common short faring station pair] and the OP will have been flagged because they buy a lot of [tickets between common short faring station pair]. With e-tickets they can usually also see when the ticket was bought (e.g. thirty seconds before you exited the station) and when it was scanned (e.g. thirty seconds after you bought it).

GA haven't said this because an open-ended question is often a nice way of trapping people in a lie. It's a remarkably effective interview technique. People in receipt of these emails will try and 'fill in the blanks'- it is human nature to do so, especially if you know you've been up to no good- and may well end up inadvertently incriminating themselves.


1. For the love of God, pay your fares.
2. Ignore their correspondence.
3. For the love of God, pay your fares.

Just being curious and I know it's a bit Unrelated.
If they do that have information on the journeys they feel ot know it's suspicious , why don't they take the issue up once and for all?

 

[Haywain]

Yes, I've been paying my fares ever since after the incident and will continue to pay it.

In which case, for the benefit of those who may doubt the efficacy of these emails from GA, the train company will regard this as a win.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

In which case, for the benefit of those who may doubt the efficacy of these emails from GA, the train company will regard this as a win.

Even if the fish doesn't bite it's still a "cease & desist" warning not to continue the dubious ticketing for fear of being caught in person.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2026 ==

If they do that have information on the journeys they feel ot know it's suspicious , why don't they take the issue up once and for all?

Their problem is that they know who bought the tickets or at least what account, but not who used them. That might not matter for a civil action "balance of probabilities" but would for a criminal one "beyond reasonable doubt".