Victoria’s Public Transport Network is Affected By Scams:
For those of you who don’t know what a Myki Card is, a few years ago, Public Transport Victoria revealed a top-up card that you could simply “touch on” and “touch off” throughout the Victorian public transport network that would aim to improve overall payment efficiency.
It has recently been announced that thieves have been targeting an international market, stealing credit card and other payment information and then going on to do something a little “out of the ordinary.” Instead of buying themselves a flight to their distant homes, or a shiny new wristwatch, these guys have been forking out on Myki cards!
But why?
The idea is simple; these scam artists use stolen money to top up real Myki cards, that they’ve had someone on the ground in Australia buy for them, before going on to sell them at a lower rate for cash on sites like Gumtree.com.au and Ebay.com.au.
Many travellers who visit Australia legitimately, sometimes forget to hand back their Myki cards and, as such, go on to sell them and any extra money that might be on the cards at a slightly lower rate than they’d have originally paid. Selling a $5 Myki Card with an extra $18.90 for a total of $10 or $15 could be regarded as a “the norm.”
What our scam artists have been doing, is buying their Myki cards for $5 each, then topping the cards up with much larger amounts (between $150-$190) using stolen funds from international bank cards, and then selling them on for between $100 and $130. Obviously this would come as a welcome surprise to any weary traveller looking to save a few extra bucks, let alone our fellow Aussies who visit Victoria on a budget.
By doing this, the fraudsters are able to turn their stolen money into cash far easier than attempting to transfer the funds through a bank account or any other means.
In total, this scam has cost Public Transport Victoria over $4.2 Million to date.
Precise Investigation has been at the forefront of Private Investigations in Australia for nearly 3 decades. As such, our experience in the field has and is still helping us to develop and explore new ways to combat scams.
We have helped hundreds of clients to track down scam artists, recover stolen funds, prove their cases in court with applicable evidence and to protect themselves and their families, friends and businesses from potential fraud.
If you, or anyone you know, has recently been affected by a scam and you would like some professional assistance, please get in touch with us today. We have a vast and reliable network of trusted contacts, access to an expansive database that quite easily covers the whole of Australia, highly trained and rigorously vetted operatives across the country and a support team that can provides any additional assistance to both our field staff and our clients as a means to make a solid case.
Scams cost Australians over $15 Billion every year, so if you’d like to save yourself, your loved ones and your business from becoming a statistic, we ask that you get in touch with us as soon as possible.
Call Precise Investigation today on 1300 856 011 for a professional, Private Investigation Service
We have trained, qualified and dually experienced field operatives based across the whole of Australia, effectively serving the likes of Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Brisbane and the more remove areas of the country with ease.
Further to our scam-related services, we strongly recommend that anyone owning a business or suffering from any personal issues that are starting to mount too high should explore our range of professional, Private Investigation services below:
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If you would like more information on the Myki story, please click here to view more information from The Syndey Morning Herald.
