Taxi Driver Online

Conman targets taxi companies

TAXI drivers are being targeted by a conman who struck three times last week. Last Tuesday evening a man called for a taxi from Tiny's Taxis, which is based in Kings Road, Hitchin, and the driver was sent to an address in Queen Street where he was met outside by a man who conned him out of £44.99.

The caller asked the driver to deliver a parcel for him to a person at Luton Airport but he would need the driver to give him the money now and he would be repaid the money and the full fare when he reached his destination.

The offender gave the driver a receipt for the money he handed over and he gave the driver a phone number to call when he reached his destination.

The driver's office called the number before the journey and a man answered confirming that the deal was genuine. However there was nobody at the airport and when the driver tried calling the number he had been given it went straight to answer phone.

The driver, who did not want to be named, said: "He was hiding in a doorway so it looked as though he had come from the building which he said he was living at.

"He gave me a phone number of the person I needed to call when I got there. I gave it to our office to call to make sure it was legitimate and somebody answered and it seemed OK. Obviously it wasn't.

"He did me out of about £100 altogether for the night which included the money I gave him, the fare I was expecting, the petrol and the wasted time which cost me other jobs."

Melvyn Day, the director of Tiny's Taxis, said: "The guy must have been very persuasive because the driver wasn't new."

Two identical incidents occurred in Stevenage and Royston. In Stevenage the taxi firm, which did not want to be identified, was similarly contacted and the conman met the driver outside a local hotel and the driver handed over £40 for the parcel. Again nobody turned up at Luton Airport to pick up the package.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said: "Investigations are continuing into each of these incidents, however Hertfordshire Constabulary put in place a rapid targeted response for drivers in the east of the county to make them aware of these incidents at the earliest possible opportunity.

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IDFIMH

Why on earth would you pick up a parcel in those cicumstances anyway, surely this would tell anyone with half ounce of common sense not to do it in the first place

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Legal and proud

Loads a love from BERTIE !!

Because they thought about the money they would get from the job.

A case of eyes bigger than their bellies.

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IDFIMH

In there defence if he was a good conman and they phoned the number and it all seemed kosher it perhaps was not greed

I'm sure there was a simular scam when I was doing work off Courier Exchange involing some really nasty people that beat the driver up as well as taking his van after delivering furniture bought with a stolen credit card!

Nice world we live in eh?

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Life? Don't talk to me about life!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjm2eslm6hI

so what is the £44.99 for and why would the driver be paying it?

Yes what was in the parcel? Surely they opened it when no one picked it up.

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Grandad,

I suspect it was;

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% made up of neon, helium, krypton and xenon.

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IDFIMH

LMAO

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Legal and proud

Loads a love from BERTIE !!

You forgot the argon.

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Former taxi driver

And the carbon dioxide ...................global warming

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Words fail me!

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Our safety is Paramount