Four drivers who defrauded a car-hailing service out of 100,000 yuan ($15,462) have been jailed for 8 months to one year, fined 1,000 yuan, and ordered to return the money to the company, prosecutors in Putuo District said yesterday.
Prosecutors told Shanghai Daily that Kuaidi One pays its zhuanche drivers as soon as a customer orders a car, but the company does not get paid until the transaction is processed.
The drivers hatched the scheme when they discovered a vulnerability in the system that could be exploited. If the customer's zhuanche account is not linked to their bank account, or is linked to a bank account with no money in it, the company gets nothing even though the drivers have already been paid.
This enabled the chauffeurs to use cellphone numbers they rented from other people to pose as customers ordering cars. According to prosecutors, one of the four, surnamed Song, registered as a zhuanche driver at a local car rental company in March last year but did not make enough money.
But he later learned from other drivers that he could increase his income by becoming involved in a scam.
He used two cellphones — one for ordering the chauffeur service and the other for receiving orders — to defraud Kuaidi One.
Song later used dozens of cellphone numbers to increase the number of false orders, making more than 10,000 yuan before being apprehended by police.
After Kuaidi One managers became aware of the company's losses, they made a report to local police on August 27 stating that the drivers had been posing as customers to defraud the company.
During the investigation, police found that several drivers had defrauded the company and lent their cellphone numbers to other drivers to commit the fraud.
