Had my Oyster card stolen yesterday. No idea how. Might have dropped it but I don’t know. I only found out last night. Tried logging online but couldn’t get in to the account and because it used an old timico email address I couldn’t do a reset.

This morning I tried again and hey presto got the username and password combo right. I’ve changed both. The fact that I could guess the password was no good.

I noted that the b”£$%^d who stole the card had used around ten quid’s worth of credit. Fortunately there is no means for them to automatically top up the card and I’ve locked it now anyway.

I could get the stolen credit reimbursed but it would involve reporting the theft to the police, getting a crime number and then going through a process with Transport for London. Not worth the effort for a tenner.

TfL are sending me a replacement card free of charge, fair play.

In my mind I envisage a system where the thief would automatically have their photo taken when they next try to use the card and the attempted use reported electronically to the nearest police officer or member of staff. At that point the said policeman/staff member could approach the thief, place their hand firmly on their shoulder and arrest/make a citizen’s arrest them.

Whilst this would give me some satisfaction I don’t really want such systems to be in place:) Big brother and all that. At least the card is now frozen, I have saved eleven quid’s worth of credit and have a new one on the way.

It was great to be able to check my account online. I am also glad that I didn’t have any credit card based auto top up set up. Might have been a bit awkward if I’d not been able to remember my account details.

Note it wasn’t immediately obvious how to block the card online so I rang TfL – bit of feedback there for TfL.

That is all.