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A close-up of an Oyster card, the travel card for London's public transport system. The background is Chalk Farm Underground Station.

Student shares warning after alleged Oyster card scam

A student who says she was targeted by a scammer that claimed she needed to borrow an Oyster card to visit her mother has issued a warning to her neighbours.

Chalk Farm resident Ottoline Spearman, 29, said she answered her front door on Prince of Wales Road last month to find a casually dressed woman crying and visibly distressed.

Spearman believes she was duped because of the alleged scammer’s visible distress and the overwhelming amount of information she was presented with within a short time.

The woman at the door claimed to be a neighbour from about 60 houses down who had been locked out of her house and said she had knocked on all of the neighbours’ doors before she got to Spearman’s house.

She said: “That’s what got me – it made it personal.”

Row of classic terraced houses with brick and white facades on Prince of Wales Road in Chalk Farm, London. A red door stands out among the buildings, and a few people with luggage walk along the pavement. Green bins are lined up by the railings in front of each house.
Prince of Wales Road, Chalk Farm.

Spearman said the woman claimed she needed to borrow an Oyster card to get to her mother, who was facing some form of emergency in Stockwell, south London.

The woman allegedly emphasised she wasn’t asking for money and that she would return the Oyster card when she got back to Chalk Farm.

Not knowing what to say or do, Spearman chose to shut the door.

Street view of Stockwell Station in London on a sunny day. The station entrance is on the right, with people walking in and out. Bicycles are parked in front of a Costcutter store next to the station, and several cars and a motorbike are stopped at a traffic light. Trees with autumn leaves are visible in the background.
The alleged scammer claimed she needed to travel to Stockwell

She said: “I felt bad about shutting the door in someone’s face while they were crying but I was at a loss.”

After speaking to her housemate Aaron Saxton, 31, she decided to give the woman her Oyster card despite her suspicions.

The next day, Spearman checked her Oyster card balance and saw that £4.90 had been withdrawn from it.

The TfL staff at the station said that nothing could be done as the money had been taken out already.

Spearman warned people to think twice when answering the door to someone that they do not know, but has decided not to contact the police about the incident.

Feature image credit: Jacob Antigha

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