The last day that riders could use the paper cards was March 5.

Starting on Sunday, Metro’s faregates will only accept SmarTrip cards.

As of this morning, no more WMATA vending machines issue paper farecards.

WMATA issued a strongly worded response today to an Examiner editorial that the agency said falsely accuses Metro employees of being involved in the farecard scam that resulted in the arrests of six individuals on Friday. Here’s what the Examiner editorial board wrote: Metro personnel in the police, technology and financial offices — who are supposed to be monitoring such transactions — may have been involved, since counterfeiting magnetized farecards is a bit more complicated…

Six suspected con artists have been arrested for their involvement in a counterfeit Metro fare card scheme. The suspects are accused of trading in counterfeit paper farecards to Metro farecare machines in order to receive legitimate ones, or adding the phony amounts to SmarTrip cards. The cards would then be resold, with the scammers earning at least $16,000. The six suspects were arrested in D.C. and Virgina stations including Judiciary Square, Union Station, Pentagon and…