Yuexingji News reported Monday that a foreigner visiting Shenzhen paid a phony RMB485 taxi fare – with the offending driver later caught and punished by the Shenzhen Traffic Police.
The trickster taxi tale started September 25 with a Weibo complaint, laying out the basics of the case: on September 21 a Milan-based client's first trip to Shenzhen began with a scam when a van driver ferried the hapless laowai from Shenzhen's airport to a hotel near Nanhai Lu. There, the man was served with a RMB485 taxi receipt for an eight-hour drive. During light traffic, it normally takes about 30 minutes from the airport to Nanhai Lu.
“He didn’t call a car, he didn’t hail a car,” the September 25 Weibo complaint reads. “He basically doesn’t know how to get a ride. He got ripped off after getting in a car at the taxi stand.”
Milan has both taxis and Uber.
A Shenzhen Daily report describes the scam as part of a system of airport scalpers coordinating their shady trade via WeChat, including printing faux taxi receipts on demand.
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Sunday evening, the Shenzhen Traffic Police Weibo announced that after ‘untold hardships’ the offending driver had been found and punished, being disqualified from engaging in app-based cab service and being 'blacklisted' by the authorities, according to the Shenzhen Daily.
"After thirteen days the Shenzhen transportation commission found the ride-hailing trickster and gave the laowai justice!" reads the Yuexingji report.
READ MORE: Taxi Driver Returns ¥10,000 to Foreign Tourist in Guangzhou
[Images via Yuexingji]
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