What happens if you give a false name and address? Can they find you later?

[Nugosh]

I have a question to ask: If you are given a penalty fare, and you supply an address which does exist but is not yours, and also a false name, but have no ID to prove to the inspectors who you are, how then can they find you and catch you for giving a false name/address when they have no knowledge of who you are, other than the false info you gave them??

[honeybee13]

I have a question to ask: If you are given a penalty fare, and you supply an address which does exist but is not yours, and also a false name, but have no ID to prove to the inspectors who you are, how then can they find you and catch you for giving a false name/address when they have no knowledge of who you are, other than the false info you gave them??

 

Hello and welcome to CAG. I'm starting a new thread for you because I think you will get better advice that way, rather than tagging on at the end of an old one.

 

Is this something that has happened to you? If you want advice from the guys, they may need more information from you.

 

Giving false information is a dangerous game from what I understand from the forum and the intelligence systems at the train companies seem to be extensive.

 

Please tell us more if you would like to have advice.

 

My best, HB

[Old-CodJA]

With well in excess of 5000 successful prosecutions for ticketing matters every year nationwide, modern technology has made it much easier to identify offenders than was the case 20 years ago.

 

There will always be some who get away with it, but natural complacency usually means their luck runs out at some time.

 

The odds shorten at every repetition.

[Nugosh]

Nothing's happened to me, I was asking out of curiosity.

[Nugosh]

Thanks for the welcome Honeybee13. No, nothing's hapened to me; I was asking only out of curiosity: If you give a false name, e.g: John Smith, and you give an address which isn't yours, e.g: 3 Turner Crescent, etc, complete with postcode; (essentially an address which DOES exist, but not your address) if the Inspectors have that info and ONLY that info, and accept it, how then can they get back to you for giving them false information when they do not know your real name and address??

[honeybee13]

Thanks for the welcome Honeybee13. No, nothing's hapened to me; I was asking only out of curiosity: If you give a false name, e.g: John Smith, and you give an address which isn't yours, e.g: 3 Turner Crescent, etc, complete with postcode; (essentially an address which DOES exist, but not your address) if the Inspectors have that info and ONLY that info, and accept it, how then can they get back to you for giving them false information when they do not know your real name and address??

 

I really don't think that's a good idea. Train company surveillance seems to be pretty good from what I've read on this forum and we see people in trouble all the time. Hardly any of them come back and say they were let off without a penalty. The ones who go to court very rarely come back to tell us what happened.

 

Did you see the BBC programme The Tube recently? I was amazed at what the system was capable of.

 

And being contentious, the people who don't pay put up the fares for the passengers who do pay.

 

HB

[Nugosh]

I'm not implying that it's a good idea. I do have a strong faith in Technology, and no I have not seen The Tube. Is it available on Youtube?? I spend much of my time on trains and have noticed the fares creeping up and don't really want them to creep up any more.

[honeybee13]

I don't think The Tube will be on youtube as it was 3 or 4 hour long programmes. There's a faint chance it's on BBC iplayer, but I think that expires quite soon after the broadcast.

 

HB

[MrGates]

So are you saying your perhaps thinking of skipping a fare soon? Advice to you is, false datails could result in you being peosecuted under the RRA act 1889 for false details and intent to avoid payment of fare, if an inspector doubts what he thinks is correct details then they will usually ask for BTP assistance, they then will have powers to arrest if need be and prosecute you if needed in serious cases.

 

As HB has said LU are notorious for clamping down on fare evasion and won't hesitate to prosecute you, they also have ready available cctv and can put together a case over a period of time.

 

Yes fares are going up, so is everything else im afraid.

[RPI]

Ha ha my favourite game that one, if it happens a lot you could find yourself being followed by plain clothes inspectors, giving false details is, as Mr Gates points out an RRA offence, HOWEVER giving SOMEONE ELSE's details is far more serious and borders on Identity theft, chances are you'd probably get away with it once but unless the Inspector is a complete numpty you would probably get found out at the time, and don't forget, if the unsuspecting person who's details you gave gets threatening letters from the TOC they may well make a complaint to the Police for identity theft!

 

We've had a few people do it before and we've ended up doing follows from the station to their homes and vice versa then usually pull them up on about the 4th day (all done in accordence with RIPPOR etc).

[sailor sam]

If you think the fares are too expensive, do what I do and don't use the trains. Simple as.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[andydd]

Clearly people do get caught when they dont know their name and address, anyone who thinks otherwise is follish, Im unsure whether it is actually a criminal offence to give a false name & address to a) The Poice or b) RPI.

 

Normally both Police and RPI have access to large databases to check peoples names and addresses, and whilst these are not 100% foolproof, it is rather a dodgy step to take.

 

Im sure one of the RPI experts can fill you in more.

 

Andy

[MrGates]

Yes it is an seperate offence to supply incorrect details, supplying details which are false can change a byelaw offence into a RRA section C offence which is max 1000 fine or 3 months in prison.

 

The data bases they use are electoral registered linked and there are other ways as mentioned of finding out the truth.

[weallmademistakes]

It's hard to say, depends on the situation and if you are a regular offender (or regular in giving a false name and address)...I think whether they bother tracing you down or not vary, because in a sense there are more serious crimes out there and tracking can be costly so it all depends...

[Old-CodJA]

I used to spend many early mornings (and evenings) in plain clothes surveillance, recording a 'fiddlers' travel history, usually as a result of information passed on by booking office or station staff, train guards / conductors and even other passengers who frequently wanted to see known fare evaders brought to book.

 

Quite often years ago these tip-offs started because someone reported a traveller and it turned out they had given a false name & address, but were reasonably regular train users. These days, with CCTV on all stations and a high percentage of trains it can be much easier to deal with the problem and with really efficient communications and access to identity checking streams that can include electoral register, telephone & utility records and much more, it really is a dangerous game to play.

[weallmademistakes]

I think those that do it on a regular basis are bound to get caught some times, and I think The Tube did highlight that pretty well so yep never lie and just don't do fare evasion means you won't be facing that problem. I lied a while ago and to this day it still haunts me, but I suppose that would depend on what kinda person you are.