Commuters dodging fares on Northern trains have been warned to 'quit while you're ahead'.
The train firm has launched an investigation led by it's Digital Fraud Investigation Team, who were formed during the pandemic after digital tickets usage increased to 67% of all tickets purchased.
Northern says fare dodgers have a raft of new tricks more sophisticated than just jumping barriers. These include; fraudulent refund requests, delay repay claims and ‘short faring’ which is where a commuter will pay for a shorter journey than they intend to take.
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Northern’s regional director for the North West, Chris Jackson commented on the situation: “The old-school fare evader still exists, but there’s a new generation who try to outsmart the system. What these individuals might not realise is that, with any electronic transaction, our systems are able to identify suspicious activity and bring it to the attention of our specialist investigators.
“Once our investigators are on the case, they can review all ticket transactions by that individual over several years and build a case if they believe that there is a pattern of criminal behaviour. One fraudulent claim today might uncover a backlog of similar activity that our team will pursue. Our message to those people is ‘quit while you’re ahead.'"
Despite the new offences, Northern yesterday revealed that in the 2022/23 financial year, their Debt Recovery & Prosecutions Unit investigated 108,681 reports of attempted fare evasion and issued 53,344 Penalty Fare Notices.
Alongside this, they were also able to recoup £2.9m of lost revenue for the taxpayer.
This increase in new fare evasive acts comes just days after Northern asked commuters to apply the ‘not suitable for work’ (NSFW) rule when it comes to consuming content.
The public were urged by The British transport Police to report any behaviour that made them feel uncomfortable.
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