A flaw in Myki’s security has been discovered that allows scammers to easily pocket cash from everyday Victorians. Please, just let Myki die. We need a new system!!! I’ll take Sydney’s Opal. I’ll take London’s Oyster. I’ll take bartering for goods and services like in Medieval times!! Anything!!!
Victoria proudly sells itself as Australia’s most progressive state, but we are decades behind when it comes to the public transport payment systems which are seemingly still stuck in the 00s (the 1900s, that is).
To add further fuel to the fire, Public Transport Victoria has now admitted scammers are registering unregistered Myki cards in their own names, and then refunding the card’s money into their own accounts.
“A lot of people who use Myki don’t register their cards, and it appears that this may leave them vulnerable to this scam,” said Daniel Bowen from the Public Transport Users Association.
“The scam appears to happen when scammers work out that cards are unregistered, and register it to their name and claim a refund.”
Folks wishing to register their Myki are required to do so online or over the phone by inputting their card’s 15-digit pin.
So far, Public Transport Victoria has admitted to the ABC that 14 people are known to have experienced this sort of fraudulent refund.
“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,” a spokesman for the operator said.
Per reporting by The Age, it is estimated that there have been 45 million Myki cards issued to users of the service.
This newest piece of bad news comes as little surprise to customers of the embattled system.
In December of 2022, it looked as though Myki might be phased out by the end of 2023 since the government’s contract with NTT Data (the company behind Myki) was meant to wrap up in November 2023.
In May this year, the state government penned a new 15-year contract with US firm Conduent worth a whopping $1.7 billion.
Reporting by The Age in 2023 suggested Conduent technology would be rolled out broadly in 2025, with some trials occurring in 2024.
And don’t even get us started on the price customers are forced to pay.
Over the New Year period that fares would increase yet again to a $10.60 daily maximum, after increasing to $10 just a short while prior.
Simply ew.
Header image via CraigRJD on iStock.
