— by Lin McNulty —
On June 3, Orcas Issues made a Public Records Request to San Juan County Sheriff’s Office regarding the mysterious, unauthorized use of Washington State Ferry WAVE2GO tickets. We, in turn, received two reports with dates of January 31, 2014 and March 21, 2014.
We were informed, however, by other victims that they had also filed reports for which we did not receive copies. A second request for Public Records was made on June 13. In response to this request, we received two additional reports, dated January 27, 2014 and April 13, 2014. We are still aware, however, of one more incident that has been reported for which no report has been provided. We are working on our third request, as we know the name of the victim in that case.
“I have read through the four cases we have and there’s really nothing to go on, on those,” indicates Sheriff Rob Nou. “No arrests have been made.”
It is indicated, however, in two of these reports that the Homeland Security camera at the Anacortes ferry terminal shows photos and license plate numbers of three vehicles that fraudulently used these ticket numbers — tickets that all victims insist never left their possession.
Follow-up emails between the investigating deputy and the still-to-be released report filed by Sarah McCulloch also indicate that the camera picked up a description of a suspect vehicle.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has been working with Washington State Ferries to obtain this vehicle description information filmed via the installed ferry terminal cameras. Washington State Patrol, who would have law enforcement jurisdiction for crimes taking place at the Anacortes terminal (state property) has no information or knowledge of these alleged thefts and/or fraud. Does this lack of a WSP investigation mean that WSF employees have been ruled out? If a WSF employee were suspected, certainly the investigation would involve WSP.
How do ticket numbers that never left the possession of the victims get into the hands of a suspect? Therein lies the mystery, it seems. Is it a computer hack, a “lucky” guess at a number, an inside job?
“As I’m sure you are aware.” Sheriff Nou continues, “the ferry system has changed their policy [as of June 15] as far as allowing people just to provide the ticket number but actually have to provide the actual ticket or photocopy thereof.”
Since there’s “really nothing to go on” (other than vehicle descriptions and license numbers, that is), Sheriff Nou sums it up as, “That’s kind of where things stand right now.”
I don’t know. Call me crazy, but isn’t this where the word ‘investigation’ comes in? “We have nothing to go on”? Last time I checked, vehicles were licensed and registered, so the finding the owners should not be a big challenge. Perhaps the owners of those vehicles could be encouraged to reveal how it was their vehicles were used in a crime. If they are innocent, they may well know the person who borrowed their vehicle. Are they not accountable or at least a source since their automobiles were present at the scene of the aforementioned crime? I am perplexed by the shall we kindly call it laisez-faire attitude.
Is this stealing of ticket numbers so unimportant or is it too difficult to bother pursuing? Just because WSF wised up does not mean case closed. Why are we playing the game of Ostrich?
So glad Orcas Issues is continuing to pursue this issue.
And no, Leslie, you aren’t “crazy” in the least. I agree with you wholeheartedly– it is an “ostrich” game. The “solution” on the part of WSF of no longer allowing customers to use the numbers above the bar code, but requiring they have a Wave2Go card or copy of it, will make this scam no longer possible, but certainly not address the issue nor find the source of this scam.
I don’t understand why Orcas vehicles that had used “stolen” ( or, at best bought in innocence from someone) Wave2Go barcodes, when dealt with by the Orcas deputies, weren’t made to reveal where they got their “stolen goods” from.
Good for you, Lin. Keep up your efforts on Islander’s behalfes to find out the answers.
By the way was it only Orcas ticket holders who were ripped off?
Having purchased numerous 5 ride tickets at a time I’ve noticed the numbers were consecutive. As long as you know the first 17 numbers it would be very easy to figure out the next one in the line. It sure does not take a rocket scientist to figure this loophole out– but it does take a criminal to abuse the system. A random number generator would solve the problem and allow the rest of us to be able to send that ticket number to our loved ones in the off chance they need that option in order to get home.
Thanks Lin, This makes lots of sense and needs to be made known. I know two people who were victims and were told that nothing could be done. Hard to believe.
Being involved with this issue since February I would like to share a small silver lining. Yesterday, WSF reimbursed me for the 2 ferry tickets that were stolen. However, they still made it clear and stated that this was not on their end, but also appreciated my input with implementing the new system, meaning no more hand written tickets will be accepted. That being said, again this is a mystery as to how the tickets were compromised since the Wave2Go was in my wallet and possession the entire time. I would like to see our law enforcement continue with their investigation and not let this rest.
I am glad that at last WSF has been reimbursing those for what was stolen from their 5 rides.
Re Kari’s comment: yes, you are right, it’s just the last 4 digits that matter on the number printed above the barcode. However, the stolen tickets were only Anacortes to Orcas 5 -rides. In the system,– in this case, San Juan islands and Anacortes ticket sales– this is a very, very small percentage of tickets sold. One would be incredibly lucky to guess the right last digits that turned out to be an Anacortes to Orcas 5 ride. I certainly do hope that WSF and local deputies pursue investigating this breach, but fear that the way they have chosen to handle it, by no longer allowing the manual entry of the barcode numbers, means they will not pursue figuring out what happened.
Does anyone else recall that a while back, the Sheriff announced a decision to not pursue or investigate the small stuff, like shoplifting or petty theft, because of budget constraints? There was some public outcry at the time, with people fearful that criminals had just been issued a license to misbehave. I fear that the ticket fraud comes under this heading to them: the losses may be considered to be too small to “waste” time investigating or prosecuting.