Scared of prosecution after refunding tickets

[bob21747495837]

I take the train everyday to university, and 2/3 times a week my ticket is not refunded. For the past 3 months I’ve refunded these tickets on the TrainPal app but recently I am not able to refund them due to an “error”. I bought my next two tickets on the Trainline app and refunded one but the next one also displayed an “error”.

I did not understand the gravity of my actions until I searched online why my tickets weren’t being refunded. I could be prosecuted under the fraud act of 2006 and I’m scared that I will be in the coming weeks. I study medicine at university and I really don’t want a criminal conviction because it will seriously impact my career forever. I don’t know what to do now, is there anyway I could offer to pay back money before they contact me? Or should I assume I haven’t been caught?

I’m sick with worry and I didn’t realise that I was committing a massive crime, any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wethebest838]

Who is the train company?

Some train company’s analyse industrial data and they will be able to see a pattern.

Don’t panic tho, just stop doing it from now. Nothing is prob gonna come from it.

 

[island]

Stop committing fraud.

Pay your fare in the future.

If you're lucky, nothing will come of it.

 

[30907]

There is not much point in trying to refund the money you have cheated the railway and taxpayer out of, but you might want to work out how much is involved.

Trainline's systems have obviously flagged up a pattern of suspicious behaviour and put a stop to it.

It's not a massive crime, but it is akin to petty pilfering, and that is potentially serious for a medic to be accused of.

 

[gray1404]

You need to stop this at once. Have any of the tickets you've refunded been scanned at any point joining the journey? Either on board or at a ticket barrier. If so you may be in trouble.

Moving forward I would suggest that you purchase your tickets at the station so as not to leave any further online trails.

 

[AlterEgo]

Stop committing such an entry level fraud. Of course refunding things you aren’t entitled to a refund on is a crime.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

As others have said, you must stop doing this now. Obtaining false refunds is fraud which is a criminal offence. It's not like getting a parking ticket.

Train companies have data sharing agreements with the main ticket retailers and it's possible that they will contact you regarding this matter. If you do get contacted then post back in this thread before you reply and we can advise on the best way to reply.

If they do contact you then it is likely that the matter can be resolved by paying back all of the fraudulent refunds you have received, along with an admin fee as long as you co-operate with the train company.

 

[WesternLancer]

If they track you it’s likely you will hear about this by e mail so keep an eye on your e mail account that’s linked to your ticket account. And the spam.

If they contact you head here on what to do.

As a trainee medic you have a massive future earning potential across your career. Do not throw that away by engaging in petty crime, or any crime. At least that seems to have dawned on you before being caught red handed.

 

[Cuthbert]

Says University, Guessing on the Cross City South line which is run by WMT

 

[Haywain]

Says University, Guessing on the Cross City South line which is run by WMT

It says “university” not “University”, so it’s not obviously the Birmingham station - it could be any station close to such an educational establishment.

 

[Cuthbert]

It says “university” not “University”, so it’s not obviously the Birmingham station - it could be any station close to such an educational establishment.

This is very true assumption is not good apologies.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's probably worth thinking about working out what the full cost, in Anytime (Day) Singles, of the journeys fraudulently refunded was, and putting that aside, as if they do pick it up they will want all of that plus an admin fee (£100-200 ish) paying in one lump sum as a settlement - otherwise you may be prosecuted and receive a criminal record, potentially even for fraud which can have a serious impact on your life (for instance if you have a fraud conviction you are very unlikely to get credit of any kind, and you would have issues getting a visa to enter countries like the US*). This is much more serious than simply travelling without a ticket - it shows real dishonesty rather than just casual evasion.

* Fraud is definitely a "crime of moral turpitude" - though I think they use a different term now.