TfL have already said the won't settle ooc. With that being said, I plead not guilty and I'm just going to go there and say everything truthfully. Hopefully, I won't be punished to severely since I feel like I got scammed by that person anyway.

This is an anonymous forum, and I have absolutely NOTHING here that can prove who I am. It hurts me to see that nobody seems to believe that I really didn't alight the bus. What would I gain from lying on here? I'm going to say this for the last time: The bus was approaching my stop, the inspector asked for my date of birth but NEVER asked for my name or address. After he asked those questions, I even told him that it's my stop and that I'll be getting off - the inspector nodded his head and let me get off casually. I got off the bus with absolutely no rush at all and the inspector was PERFECTLY fine with me getting off after nodding his head saying that I can. Did I produce a valid ticket? Well I DID have an oyster card which I believed to be valid. Only when I received the letter did I realise that the account which was made for me was provided with the incorrect details. I don't know whether pleading not guilty was the correct move or the wrong move. I am an 18 year old who has never had any trouble with the law OR any experience with it. But my father advised me to do this after I told him what happened and so I decided to trust him. Now I'd like to think that I'm not a stupid person, at least for my age. But I do know that I definitely made a mistake. So at the very least I would just like to ask for this advice. If you could just assume that I am telling the truth here. I never was asked for my name and address. I also gave the date of birth which the person on social media told me will be on the system in order for my card to be valid. How will the court handle this situation anyway? From the very start, I've been worried that it's my word against the ticket inspector. My word is taken even less seriously because I'm at fault for making this mistake. But I really am being truthful. I don't know what to do at this stage - If I was asked any question I would have certainly provided the answer but I WASN'T asked for my name/address. I was only asked for my date of birth, and the inspector wanted to see the oyster card that I was using (I assumed he was looking at my name.. Why would I withhold my name when the inspector had it literally there in front of him?) at this point I don't know. When I first received this summon, I wasn't that worried about it. That's because I know for myself that I was unaware that I wasn't allowed to have the card I was using, I was eligible for ALL of the discounts on the card anyway so why would I get it illegally? And I thought if I just explain my side of the story it would be fine. But now I realise that although I know that I'm being truthful, I have no evidence other than my own word which has put me in this situation. So if you are still here to give me advice for this: what do you recommend I do? Is it looking bad for me even if I am telling the truth?

From the start of this thread you've expressed your annoyance about helping me. Constantly saying how everything I'm doing is wrong. I was accused something which I DIDNT DO. My father who is familiar with the law has also noticed that and has advised me to plead not guilty. I made this thread because I knew taking in other opinions and advice will be helpful to me, but I will obviously have my father as my main adviser in this situation. And now you're acting like the victim because I decided to take my father's advice in a situation where I'm being accused of something I did not do? I was always listening, taking in every piece of advice I could and keeping that in mind. You've showed how much of a burden it was for you to help me and give me advice and you think I will do 100% as you say even when my FATHER advises me against it? If this is what you consider constructive help, you should have left some time ago...

Well TfL said they don't settle out of court, and said that if I didn't know that the oyster card was not valid then I wouldn't have provided wrong date of birth and alighted the bus. I didn't respond to that, but I never alighted the bus and that's what I thought the date of birth would be on their side of the system. Well my dad has said that they are accusing me of this, even saying that i alighted the bus to avoid providing details, but this is not true. I sent off a not guilty plead to the court and I believe they will reschedule a new date. I am waiting for the new date. Honestly, I don't know how it's looking for me. I just want to put this behind me.

I called up TfL on Wednesday and asked about settling out of court. They said I will need to email them about it so I did that on the same day. Today I sent off the court letter to court with my plea. I was never given a letter asking for my side of the story though, some users here said that I should've received one prior to the court letter but I never did. I emailed TfL briefly explaining my story, apologising and asking for settling out of court. Sent the email 7 days before the actual court date, but my father said that if they do want an out of court settlement then they can always cancel the court even after I sent my letter with the plea. I'm not sure what my chances are for OOC. To be honest I think they won't accept it just from my gut feeling, hopefully I'm wrong though. I'd rather have a confirmation that the case will settled out of court, get drunk and put this all behind me. But this may just turn out to be a very stressful year for me.

It seems like forum will be going down soon for at least 2 days. I want to contact TFL today. I was wondering what number I should call to discuss OOC?

I thank you for helping me and giving me guidance, but I haven't received any advice for what to say when I actually call TFL and try to settle out of court. I just want to know how I should approach the subject when I call them and what parts of my story I should say.

I plan to call TFL tomorrow, or on Tuesday if I feel like I'm not prepared enough tomorrow. I will attempt to settle out of court. I'm not sure what to say honestly. I'm assuming I'd have to be very brief and get straight to the point, but it's difficult to properly explain this situation from my side whilst also making it brief. I've explained this situation to my father and he has encouraged me to plead not guilty. He says I've been s c a m m e d, since I paid for an application to be made for a student 16+ oyster card, but yet I received an invalid one which is not what I thought I will be getting. Why do you advice pleading guilty? (If it does come to court). Hopefully everything can be settled OOC and even if I have to pay that fine + application, at least I won't have a record and I can take this as a lesson rather than something that will actually affect me.

Hope this makes things a bit more clear

If I plead not guilty I will definitely attend the court. I wanted to know; if I do plead guilty, does it definitely result in a conviction or something that goes on my record, or can I plead guilty and get off with just a fine and no record? I do realise that I certainly made a very stupid mistake by getting the card online. It was something that was very irresponsible of me and I regret it terribly. Not only because I am now in trouble for it, but also because I allowed myself to fall for something which should have been otherwise obvious. I should have been more vigilant and knew better, but instead I just made this stupid mistake. I never had any intention of causing trouble for TFL. Yet this sequence of events has put me in a bad spot and I have now disappointed myself and my family. I've always been a quiet and boring person so this came as a shock to everyone I know and I geniuenly and truthfully feel like this is the biggest mistake I've made in my life. I am willing to pay off anything TFL feels like I owe them, but the possibility that a mistake like this can result in a record which will follow me and affect my future is absolutely gut wrenching to the point where I started having panic attacks thinking about it all. I just want to know what I can do in this situation, to stop me from getting any conviction or criminal record.

I only received one letter, which had lots of paper work and it was from the court. I will send pictures as soon as I can. I'm not sure if the letter was asking for my version of events or if it was just a statement. I will check and get back to you. Also, is it still possible to settle out of court when the court date is less than 2 weeks away? Furthermore, if TFl do agree to settle out of court, is it still possible that I'll get convicted or anything will show up on my record? Thank you for your help, I will be providing more information regarding the court letter.

Also regarding this, is pleading guilty really the best course of action for me? I do admit that my actions were extremely irresponsible and I deeply regret them, but I don't think I'm actually guilty of what I am being accused of? I mean - As far as I know I'm being accused of using a fake oyster card which I was not entitled to and intentionally tried to make it appear valid, then alighted the bus when asked for my name and address. I was entitled to these discounts/free travel, didn't intentionally try to make it appear valid (It's just what I thought would be on the system), and didn't alight the bus when asked for my name or address, since I wasn't asked for my address. even though I don't know much about law, I can at least see my actions and compare them to what I am being accused of. From what I know, pleading guilty leads to a conviction for whatever it is that I'm accused of, but if I did not do those things shouldn't I be pleading not guilty?

3 days before the court date, which is on the 6th of March. So they have to receive it at least by the 3rd of March

I did get a letter which is asking me for a statement. I don't know what to write on it really, other than just apologise for everything and admit that I was extremely irresponsible.

It appears like that's what happened. this was some sort of exploit which allowed people of any age get 16+ oyster cards and therefore enable them to free travel? But in my case, I am entitled to free travel already and just wanted a 16+ oyster card which I knew I was allowed to have. It seems like I was just careless and let someone make the account for me out of my own stupidity. having considered that, am I still looking at a big fine and criminal record? If I were to try to give an unbiased opinion on this, I don't think I deserve a criminal record + an application of £350 for this. I WAS still using an invalid oyster card, even though I thought it was valid, so I think I should pay the fares which I owe them (which amount to £40) and that's that. But that's just the way I would see it and don't actually know how the law works. What do you think? How worried should I be that they'll put this on my record? should I be expecting to pay the total fine of around £400? To be fair, I think even if I am fined the £400 but it doesn't go on my record, it's not the end of the world. I can take it as a lesson learned and move on. the possibility that something like this will go on my record and affect my career because of a dumb mistake makes me feel hopeless and defeated. Also, in reference to this; are you really sure I don't have to worry about it? I feel like the address statement makes a difference. Because the main thing is that I didn't know my oyster card was invalid and didn't intentionally have a "fake" oyster card. the fact that the inspector said I didn't provide an address and name and got off the bus makes it seem like I had something to hide. This will make it a lot less believable that I geniuenly didn't know my oyster card was invalid? If I was asked for my address I would have certainly given it which would've further proved my side of the story. now that the inspector said otherwise, it made it seem like I was trying to hide that I have an invalid oyster card which was not the case at all! After the inspector thing, I still thought my oyster card is valid and continued using it for a few weeks. I don't know, I feel like that is something I should worry about.

My dad hasn't dealt with this type of incident before. He has only handled cases in court before (unrelated to TFL), so he is quite knowledgeable in law. I didn't know this person is a "forger". I was in a rush to get an oyster card as I had plans coming up, and couldn't find the right way to set up an account. I was getting frustrated and just gave up and let this guy on Snapchat set up the account for me. When making this decision, I knew that it was a bad investment. I knew that I could eventually figure out how to make an account for free, as it couldn't be that difficult. But because I wanted the oyster card ASAP and I had made plans with my friends, I just decided to do it. Never in a million years did I think that the account set up for me will cause me any trouble.

My oyster card was still valid throughout the entire of my first year (I was still 17). I turned 18 during the summer of 2018 but I use buses strictly to get to college. As a result I didn't have a need to get the oyster card until September of 2018. I started off the year walking to college, when I found out that I am still entitled to free travel because I'm still in full time education, I wanted to get an oyster card as soon as possible. Soon after, I came across the social media page. At first I tried to set up an account myself, but couldn't find it anywhere and when I attempted to register, I think it was asking for some sort of 12 digit code which I didn't have. Me and my friend were going to travel using the bus, for a party which was happening in a few days. This was the first time I needed an oyster card outside of using it for college. I just decided to go for it and let this person on Snapchat make the account for me so I can get an oyster card as soon as possible and get it over with. The sooner I got it the better, and it would mean that I don't have to walk to college anymore. Also, I almost never use trains. During my time of having this invalid Oyster Card I used the train twice, once to go to Enfield and then the second time on the same day, when returning. I topped up the oyster card and paid for the travel. One thing I know for a fact is that Tfl did not lose any money from me doing this. Since I am entitled to a 16+ oyster card, which means I get free travel and half price on trains anyway. I paid the £20 fee as you normally would to actually get the oyster card.

Court date is 6th of March. With the letter summoning me to court it gave me a few options. Plead guilty and not attend court, and it will take place in my absence. Plead guilty and attend court, or plead not guilty in which case the court date will be pushed back. That is the only letter which I have received concerning this matter. there were a lot of papers that came with it. I believe I do need to send back a statement for my version of events which I have to send 3 days before the court date. I'd really want to settle out of court if anything, but I feel like it isn't possible. This is because if I want to give the full truth, I will have to say that I was never asked for my address, which is not what the inspector says. Because of this I feel like they will think I'm lying or trying to get out of the situation and therefore settling out of court will prove difficult. This is an anonymous forum and people here are not judges, so I can truthfully say that I really wasn't asked for my address. It says that when asked I got off the bus without providing them. This is really stressing me out, because I know that what I did was stupid and wrong. not everything written here against me is right. because I'm already in the wrong for the most part, disputing that I was never asked for my address will be less believable. I'm just really scared and frustrated that the inspector wrote this falsely, though I'm sure it wasn't intentional on his part. He probably forgot to ask me and just remembered me getting off my stop.

Yes, when I was using the oyster card I did not know it was a fake card. To clarify: I thought I was entitled to the card I was using. I used the card only for around 2 months and strictly to get to college. Before paying the £20 fee, I ensured that the link I received was to the official TFL website. I was a tiny bit suspicious that I might be getting s c a m m e d, but that was until my card arrived. Once I received the oyster card, all my doubts about this were cleared. I knew for a fact that I am entitled to a 16+ oyster card because I am in full time education, and a 16+ oyster card is what I received. Because of this, I thought the oyster card I was using was valid. When my oyster card stopped working, I thought I got s c a m m e d and just took a lesson from it to not fall for something like that again. When I received a summons to the court, I began researching this and came across this forum and some other threads. I then saw that many people did exactly what I did, but it seems that they were not in full-time education and were not entitled to one. They bought an oyster card on social media in order to get free travel when they weren't supposed to? I didn't know people did this when contacting the person on Snapchat, I bought the oyster card because I thought he will set up the account all for me and I wouldn't have to bother with it. I think this was my main mistake, I was incredibly stupid to let someone I didn't know set up an account for me and the only excuse I have for this is that I was just being lazy to research further on how to do it. I'm not sure what you mean by three part harmony. Can you help me on this matter?

Hello, first of all I would like to say I'm really glad I found this forum. After looking through some of these recent posts, I've noticed that others have had invalid 16+ oyster cards made for them and also got into trouble with inspectors. My case however, seems to be slightly different. I am an 18-year old student currently in full time education. This means that I am entitled to a 16+ oyster card already, and eligible for free travel. However, I couldn't figure out how to make the account and actually get the oyster card. I've noticed a lot of people on social media getting these 16+ oyster cards. At first I assumed this was for people who didn't know how to set up the account themselves. There was one particular guy on Snapchat, who was advertising these 16+ oyster cards. He kept posting people using his 'service' and thanking him and since I didn't know how to do it myself I just decided to let him do it for me. I messaged him, and he said he will do it for £50. At first I was like what the hell, £50 just to set up an account? But since so many people used his service I thought it must have been a complicated process (which is a very stupid thing to assume now that I look back on it). But of course me being the stupid 18 year old, I thought to myself that I want to get an oyster card as soon as possible since I was tired of walking 1+ hours to get to college and the guy convinced me he will have everything ready for me within 15 minutes. I have recently started working my first job, and got my first couple pay checks I'm stupidly thinking "whatever I can afford the luxury of having this done for me". I send this guy a photo, my address, my full name and my date of birth. He sends me back log-in information and I pay for the £20 oyster card fee. Few days later my oyster card comes no problem. Now, I'm in my last year of college (finishing in 2019) but my oyster card expiry date said 2020. I message this guy on Snapchat saying why does it say the oyster card expires in 2020 when I'm finishing college in 2019. He says to me that on the system it will say I'm 17 years old, but because college is usually a 2 year course it will expire then. I was thinking that's really odd, I assumed the system would obviously say my actual date of birth. I should've noticed this is a red flag, but I had already received my oyster card I'm thinking that TFL obviously must have checked the account, and confirmed that I was eligible, otherwise I wouldn't have received the card. I just brushed it off without thinking much about it. Fast forward about 1-2 months of using the oyster card no problem, inspector comes on and I give him the card. He asks for my name and I point to the card and say my name. He asks for my age/date of birth. I was born in the year 2000. I say my actual date of birth, but remember that the guy said on the system it will say I'm 17. said "10th of May, two thousand-----and one" I added the "one" at the end thinking that it will say I'm 17 on the system so it would make more sense. Inspector says okay, and it was my stop approaching I let him know that it's my stop and he nodded his head. I got off and that was that. Didn't think anything about it at the time. Fast forward again about 3 weeks, my oyster card stops working. I didn't for a second think that the inspector thing and my card stopping was related at all, in fact I had already forgotten about him by that time. i'm wondering why my card stopped working. I'm talking to my friend at college later that day and I asked him if he's got a 16+ oyster card. He says yes. I ask is it working? He says Yeah. So I ask how did he get the oyster card. He said he made an account on TFL, printed out a form, got it stamped and signed by the college and sent it to the post office. I was like "oooh damn I didn't do that, that's why it got stopped". now I'm annoyed that my oyster card is not working when I paid £50 for it, especially now that I know how to set it up myself and the guy never gave me a form to give to the college. I look for this guy's Snapchat that got me the oyster card, and it seems that he deleted it. I'm really annoyed now but oh well, I guess it's a lesson learned I thought to myself. I had about 6 more months at college by then I just decided to start walking again so that I didn't have to pay another £20 fee. Now here's the ice breaker. About 1 month after this I received a letter. Boom - I have been summoned to court for the use of a 16+ oyster card that I was not entitled to. It says that the inspector which questioned me asked for my date of birth, and I gave him the wrong one in order to make the card appear valid. It then says when asked for my name and address I got off the bus without providing them?? This came as an absolute shock to me. I gave my name, I was definitely never asked for my address. I gave that date of birth thinking that's what it will say on the system. With the letter, came attached a print screen of my account details (which I haven't seen before). My date of birth was completely wrong. Wrong day, wrong month, wrong year. And now it appears that I have to be at court and pay a fine of about £400, plus a potential criminal record? I tell my dad the whole scenario because he has handled cases before. He gets a bit angry thinking why I didn't ask him to help me make the account, but I recently turned 18 and just wanted to do stuff without asking anything of my parents. he says I need to actually get a legitimate 16+ oyster card ASAP, to prove that I'm entitled to one. So I did, and it just arrived yesterday. I wouldn't really be worried about this that much since I wasn't aware of doing something wrong, I was just really stupid to see it. But it seems that even if you do something like this wrong mistakenly, you're still at fault so I'm a little scared. I've never been in trouble with the law before and had no idea what I was doing was illegal. What makes it even worse is the fact that the letter says that I got off the bus when asked for my name and address without giving them. But this is false, I did give my name and I was certainly NEVER asked for my address. But I'm guessing that they will take the word of an experienced inspector than a dumb 18-year old boy? Should I be worried? Should I expect to have to pay the fine and/or get a criminal record? Court is supposed to be 6th of March, I'd like to settle out of court but if that's not possible, I'll plead not guilty because I was not aware of doing something wrong. I do admit and take responsibility for being stupid and not realising that the Snapchat guy saying "it will say you are 17 on the system" is dodgy and doesn't make sense. But that was when I received my oyster card, and I thought that as long as you receive one from TFL they would have checked the account and confirmed it eligible. Should I contact TFL asap and explain everything as I have here? I just need advice on this situation and how to approach this. Please note that I am an 18-year old who knows nothing about law. I would've never in a million years thought I'd have to go to court during my lifetime, considering my extremely boring lifestyle. But now that I'm here this all feels surreal and I'm filled with anxiety. Advice is greatly appreciated, and I apologise for the long read.