Myki fraud scheme prompts new safeguards and investigation

The Victorian government has introduced new measures to safeguard public transport users using unregistered myki cards after more than a dozen people were defrauded on Victoria’s public transport network.

The scheme, which the government says involves unregistered cards being incorrectly registered to new users, has prompted the government to take additional measures to safeguard users while the matter is investigated further.

“Affected customers were contacted and will receive refunds of their last recorded myki balance, as well as the card fee to purchase a new myki card,” the spokesman said.

The detection of the 14 users represents a tiny sliver of the more than 45 million myki cards issued to users of the public transport system. In 2021, just 44 per cent of myki cards were registered, the Herald Sun reported.

Daniel Bowen, spokesperson from the Public Transport Users Association, said the reports of the fraud were concerning because many users do not register their myki card.

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“Hopefully this is not a widespread issue, but if a weakness has been found in the myki system, it could become a big problem,” he said.

“We’d encourage passengers to register their myki cards where possible, and the government must urgently investigate this issue and ensure that cardholder funds are protected.”

Detection of the fraudulent scheme comes amid a request from the new operators of Victoria’s long-troubled myki system, seeking sought more money from the state government to deal with technical roadblocks and cost pressures.