Cities across UK are not offering six months travel for £2

The claim

Posts have surfaced on Facebook saying that cities across the U.K. are offering a limited supply of transport cards that would allow recipients free travel for six months for just £2.

The posts mimic city transport authorities and bus operators in cities including Edinburgh, Wolverhampton, Glasgow, Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Walsall, Newport, Newcastle, Coventry, and Brighton. 

The posts detected by Logically Facts were all similar, generally changing only the city name, images of local buses, and the name of the transport card itself. 

In fact

No such deal is visible on the U.K. Department of Transport website or social media channels. In response to a request for comment, the department directed Logically Facts to contact individual city councils. 

Nathan Lockwood, media and social media representative for Edinburgh City Council, said to Logically Facts that "it is indeed a scam."

He further directed us to the official Facebook page for Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Tram, where an official statement warning of the scams has been posted. 

Edinburgh bus operator Lothian Buses posted a statement on October 7 on Facebook, saying, in part, "Please DO NOT provide any personal information or bank details to this, or any other Facebook page claiming to have a similar offer. If you have provided your personal information already, please contact your bank immediately."

Bus operator Glasgow First responded in a post on X, saying that the company is "not affiliated" with the post. 

Brighton & Hove Buses posted on X on September 25, calling the post offering  "a scam." Local news outlet The Argus published an article on October 5 about the Facebook post, quoting a Brighton & Hove Buses spokesperson as saying, "This is not a genuine offer and we urge you not to click on any links or provide personal data."

Newport Bus posted a screenshot of the Facebook post on X on October 3, saying, "**SCAM** this page is not affiliated to Newport Bus or Newport Transport. If you see this page on Facebook please report the page to Facebook and block it. Do not click the links in their posts."

The Tyne and Wear Metro, which services Newcastle, issued a statement on their official Facebook page on September 27, saying that they had been made aware of a Facebook page that is "falsely claiming to sell Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) cards," adding, "Customers should be advised that this links to a fraudulent/scam website and they should not engage with it."

Screenshot of Cardiff Bus X post on October 5, warning that the promotion was not affiliated with the company. (Source: X) 

Cardiff Bus posted a screenshot of one of the posts to X on October 5, saying, "Please note that this is not a Cardiff Bus promotion. This is fake. It had been reported. Please do not purchase this."

Transport for West Midlands, cited in the posts claiming to show discounted travel for Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Birmingham, said in an X post on October 4, "Fraudsters are claiming that Transport for West Midlands is offering a "Swift pay as you go" card for £2, granting free public transport for a year. Please be aware that this is NOT a legitimate offer."

The supposed offer is also not available on Transport for West Midlands website or social media channels. 

Nottingham City Transport re-posted a screenshot of the post on October 2 saying that the offer was a "scam."

Logically Facts will update this article should further transport authorities and companies respond to requests for comment about the Facebook posts. 

The verdict

A series of Facebook posts have surfaced claiming to offer six months of travel across various cities in the U.K. for just £2. Local transport authorities and bus operators have responded to the posts, calling them scams.