Myki customers to receive refunds as new scam triggers investigation

Hackers have found a way to exploit myki cards and steal the money off them, prompting the Victorian government to launch an investigation, beef up security and refund customers.

The scam involves unregistered cards being registered to other users and the money on them being claimed.

Less than half of the state’s myki cards were registered in 2021.Credit: Eddie Jim

So far 14 people had been confirmed as having been defrauded, but on Saturday the state opposition said it didn’t believe the number was so low.

A state government spokesman said additional measures to safeguard users had been implemented while the matter was 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.

There more than 45 million myki cards issued to users of the public transport system.

Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said reports of the fraud were concerning because many users did not register their myki card. Just 44 per cent of myki cards were registered in 2021, the Herald Sun reported.

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

Opposition public transport spokesman Matthew Guy said Victoria’s myki system was outdated.

“The government has been told about this for a long time and they’ve done nothing,” he said on Saturday.

“It’s fine to have shiny new bridges and new trains. But when you’ve got a ticketing system that is from the 1990s, that’s now compromising people’s data, it’s time to actually focus on that as a priority.”

Guy said he didn’t trust the state government’s estimate that only 14 cards had been affected.

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

Opposition transport spokesman Matthew Guy uses a myki card during the 2022 state election campaign.Credit: AAP

Trials of an upgraded public transport ticketing system were expected this year, but sources said new operator Conduent was struggling with key deadlines and negotiating variations on its contract with the government.

Victoria signed a 15-year $1.7 billion contract with Conduent in May last year. The US-headquartered firm took over running myki from the system’s previous operator, NTT Data, in December.

Conduent has pledged to deliver transport users the ability to touch on with bank cards and to expand mobile myki to Apple phones, an upgrade which has been promised since 2019.

On Thursday, Premier Jacinta Allan said upgrading the network was a complex task, and included rolling out 23,000 new devices on the public transport network to deliver new ticketing technology.

Another key public transport contract for Melbourne’s metropolitan rail network has been extended until 2027, pushing back the bidding process until 2026.

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