It was 8am on a Thursday, the drab morning commute, and Neil was staring absent-mindedly out a train window when a man with wild darting eyes caught his attention.
He was maybe 18 or 20, average height, and lingered inside the doors of the carriage, clumsily pulling on a yellow high-vis vest before he pulled what looked like a large mobile phone out of his pocket.
After pressing a few buttons, he examined people in their seats; seemingly sizing up his targets before walking down the aisle and presenting the device, outstretched, to about 20 people, or half the passengers in the carriage.
Please present your tickets, the man said – and people pulled up their digital bank cards in response.
“Some of them looked surprised, and they tapped,” said Neil, who asked for his identity to remain secret, fearing he would be harassed.
“Sometimes people went, ‘Oh, I’ve done it’, and they tried to check [their tickets] in a different way, and he acted like he could see it.”
The young man didn’t approach Neil, who thought the situation a little odd as he took the V/Line from Melton in Melbourne’s west to the city last Thursday. But he shrugged it off – until he saw the man again, this time leaping out of a carriage at a station in the suburbs, clutching the high-vis vest in one hand as he ran between platforms.
It was then Neil suspected that the young man was deciding what train to target next so he could steal passengers’ financial information. His confusion turned to shock.
“From station to station, he just swapped,” Neil said.
It’s only weeks since Victorians were allowed finally to tap on with bank cards and smartphones for most train rides, following a trial on the Ballarat, Craigieburn, Upfield and Seymour lines. The trial, which began in March, recorded more than 88,500 tap-and-go trips. Four out of five were made using a phone or smartwatch.
Passengers have taken more than half a million contactless journeys since, according to the Victorian government.
Neil waited until the train arrived at Southern Cross Station, where he alerted a conductor to the alleged grifter. The conductor confirmed V/Line wasn’t validating passenger bank cards. V/Line staff cannot view passengers’ banking details or personal information.
A spokesman for the regional rail operator this week confirmed to The Age it was aware of a member of the public allegedly impersonating a conductor on the Ballarat line.
It reported the matter to Victoria Police, who were unable to comment further. It’s unclear if money or financial information was stolen.
“We encourage any passengers who believe they may have seen this person on our services to contact police,” the V/Line spokesman said.
Reports to the rail operator described the alleged conman as wearing a homemade V/Line jacket, along with a maroon backpack and black headphones.
However, Neil said the man he saw wasn’t wearing a backpack, and instead had on a high-vis vest with no logo, and a blue-black tracksuit.
V/Line emphasised that its conductors will always be wearing an official V/Line uniform and identification.
Since the expansion of the myki system to include bank cards, authorised officers who patrol trains have new handheld devices to scan phones, smartwatches, credit cards or debit cards to validate tickets.
Metro Trains has no reports of similar scams since passengers were allowed to tap on with bank cards.
Neil remains hyper-vigilant on his morning commute. “This seems to be everyday life nowadays,” he said. “Everybody’s trying to take advantage of something.”
with Alexander Darling
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