A gang has been jailed for using cloned Oyster cards to claim more than £370,000 in refunds.
The men made hundreds of cloned cards, and recruited others to visit tube stations across London to use them, taking a cut from the refunds.
Police launched a probe in 2015 when Transport for London reported that older Oyster cards were being used repeatedly at ticket machines to obtain multiple refunds.
Known as ‘first generation’ cards, they had been replaced with new ones which were more secure.
The crooks made hundreds of cloned cards, and recruited others to visit tube stations across London to use them, taking a cut from the refunds. Pictured left is Jahmai Turner and right is Nathan Jeffrey-Payne
But the gang had managed to clone the old cards, which were shipped from Hong Kong, and programmed them to show they had credit on when they did not.
They recruited people to visit London Underground stations to get cash refunds from the machines for £10 to £13 per card each time.
Officers identified and arrested 16 people involved in the scam.
Analysis of mobile phone records led them to identify the kingpins behind the operation – Remy Rankin, Nathan Jeffrey-Payne, Prince Henry, Jahmai Turner, Oliver Kassrongo and Brandon Massia.
They were arrested in August and October last year, and forensics linked them to the cloned oyster cards which had been shipped from Hong Kong.
Although Payne claimed to have no income, he had bought a BMW car for £20,000 in cash at the height of the operation in July 2016.
Brandon Massia (left) Oliver Kassrongo (right) both admitted one count of fraud and got an 18 months sentence each
They were jailed at Blackfriars Crown Court last Friday.
Rankin, 27, of Hatfield, Hertfordshire got seven years’ jail after he was convicted of two counts of fraud.
Other members admitted their roles at the start of the trial.
Jeffrey-Payne, 28, of Ilford, east London, was jailed for six years and nine months for two counts of fraud and one count of money laundering.
Henry, 28, of Wood Green, north London, received four years jail sentence for two counts of fraud.
Turner, 30, of Hornsey, north London, was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison for two counts of fraud.
Kassrongo, 19, of Hackney, east London, and Massia, 19, of Barnet, north London both admitted one count of fraud and each received an 18 month sentence.
Remy Rankin, 27, of Hatfield, Hertfordshire got seven years’ jail after he was convicted of two counts of fraud (left). Prince Henry received four years jail sentence for two counts of fraud
Detective Constable Jon Butterwick, from the British Transport Police’s Cyber Crime Unit, said: ‘This was a large operation run by an organised crime gang which brought in hundreds of thousands of pounds for the offenders.
‘Fortunately, TfL noticed the unusual refund activity and alerted BTP, and we were able to gather intelligence and evidence to identify the members of the crime group and bring them to justice.
‘This was a sophisticated crime which required a specialised team to detect and provide the necessary evidence to put before the court.
‘Fraudulent criminal activity like this ultimately cost the honest, fee-paying passengers who use the railway network.’