TFL 16+ oyster scam

Stop 😂

Hi. I am literally in the same boat and my court hearing is in a few days!! I was wondering of what happened to your friend. Please let me know, I would be sooo apreciative as it could potentially help me/prepare me for what is to come.

he's being dead serious... don't mess with the big guns, next thing you know his house is getting bombed..





😂

Same here, do not get BSB solicitors, they are completely useless. If you don't have mitigating circumstances they can't do anything as i thought hiring them would help. They just took my money and told me to plead guilty.

Same here, do not get BSB solicitors, they are completely useless. If you don't have mitigating circumstances they can't do anything as i thought hiring them would help. They just took my money and told me to plead guilty.

😂idk... I don't have a criminal record and I've never done it before...

Hi!! my hearing is literally tomorrow and im so nervous. Did they give you a criminal record btw? And if you dont mind me asking, are you above 18 or below? I think they wont be leniant with me because im 18. And did you get a fine? If so, did you have to pay it on the same day?

Tysm for replying btw!!

My hearing is tomorrow as well. I hired the solicitors thinking they would be able to avoid a criminal record. All they did was write the letter to tfl which was pointless, i paid £600 like an idiot thinking they were gonna do more than that. Anyway, tfl read the letter and said they were gonna continue with the prosecution. I asked my solicitor what to do and they just said plea by post and you don't need to go court. It'll only stay on your record for a year, great to know that i paid £600 for them to tell me something i already know. I'm 20 they won't be lenient unless you have mitigating circumstances and can prove it. If you go court you'll pay it same day otherwise they'll send you a letter telling you what they decided you need to pay.

im literally so scared. havent told my parents either, idk how I'll pay it off. what court is yours at? might be the same as mine haha. mines at 2pm tho. im gonna get there at 10 and ask for a duty solicitor to help me. they work for free.

Lavender Hill and it's at 11am, i'm not sure if i'm gonna go. I pleaded guilty by post and that i won't be attending. I've been thinking about going the past few days and was planning to but i just realised that i'm already scared as it is. So, I probably won't be able to handle the pressure of being questioned and make things worse for myself. My mum ended up finding the court papers and i got into a lot of ****, i had to lie and say that it says if i don't pay then they'll take me to court to calm her down. They're gonna send me the court letter with the fine so i'm gonna have to stay at home at home as long as it takes to stop her from finding the letter with court's decision.

lol same mine's at lavendar hill too. i reckon all of the cases are happening there. im gonna go tho, because i want to provide mitigations and *hope* they reduce the fine even more after that. but if they start asking me questions about how i got it then im screwed because i got it from a close friend's mate and i dont want to bait that person out. i dont even financially support myself so my parents are actually going to kill me.
anyway, it was kind of reassuring and calming to discuss this with you so thanks for that. i'll let you know how much my fine is and hopefully that could give you an idea of what to expect.
cheers!

No problem it's cool and that would be really helpful knowing what kind of fine to expect. Also, wanted to let you know that i came across some other threads where people have been able to get an out of court settlement before their hearing. Apparently you speak to the prosecutor before the hearing and try to convince them to settle of court but like i said, it's only really if you have mitigating circumstances. If they do agree, then you need to write a check for them on the spot.

Why do you guys do this? It's just fraud, cheating, and stealing. Probably drives up the fares for the rest of us. And then you get caught. What's the point?

Some people aren’t financially stable enough to pay the full cost. Some of us have lives that require us to travel a lot and thus spend a lot of money. And some of us just fall into peer pressure and do it because everyone around us has got one. You seem to be speaking from a position of privilege. Don’t be so harsh with your judgements. We all make mistakes and learn from them.

No, no privilege here I can assure you. It's just stealing, it isn't a "mistake" when you go out of your way to get fraudulent documents. People with genuine financial need I can understand. Other than that, stealing is not the best way to live economically. Especially when you get caught.

tbh, you could argue that its a victimless "crime"

the bus or train would still be going to the location anyway regardless of 1 extra person deciding to get on for free. However ones people start doing this in large numbers it could become a problem as profits are hit. Sometimes on trains [in rural areas] when the conductor comes round and asks people for their tickets, like a third haven't paid [so purchase their ticket from him].This won't happen in London as the majority of stations have got barriers ....but in more rural areas people will try get away with it if they can. I am one of them. I've saved quite a bit of money from not paying [at least £150 by now]. If the conductor asks me for my ticket i just purchase one from him when he comes and tell him i got on at the last stop. If he doesn't ask me for my ticket then it's happy days, i've saved myself a train fair.

Why is it victimless? Yes, the bus or train will still run - but someone else, including people who need to save money just as much as you - are paying for your seat and your bus or train. That's hardly fair or right. How do you think bus and train services are paid for? With fewer paying riders - because it isn't just you - price per rider goes up. I agree that the price of the Underground and trains is very high, too high, but stealing not only from the companies but from each other isn't really the solution, is it. On top of that, if there is enough abuse of the 16+ ticket, it might be withdrawn as unaffordable and then the people actually entitled to it won't get it at all, thanks to people who stole with fraudulent tickets. As per the Wiki, in the case of TFL, 40% of their revenue comes from fares, 23% directly from the government (think taxes actual people have paid) and another 9 % from the congestion charge (think actual money that people have paid) and 8% from Crossrail funding. You can see the effect if people don't pay. We pay for each other, so let's everyone pay our fair (fare) share and not cheat and steal.

damn. Oh well too late for me now, my hearing is in 13 hours and 5 mins can’t talk to a prospector at this point.
I’m just gonna sleep now, try and get there at like 9:30am for to get a duty solicitor.
Good night!