Taxi cheats using GPS jammers to steal fares ROGUE taxi drivers are using illegal GPS jammers to queue-jump and steal fares.
Dozens of Melbourne cabbies suspected of using the jammers have been reprimanded or have been given their marching orders by one taxi booking network.
And communications authorities warn the devices are a potential risk to public safety, as they can obscure the location of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.
The contraband jammers can disguise the location of taxis by disrupting satellite navigation system signals.
Drivers have been caught using them in order to fool cab companies into giving them jobs even though they are not in the area.
Several jammers have been confiscated.
13 CABS chief operating officer Stuart Overell said the booking network had kicked out or admonished more than 100 drivers since it introduced technology to detect jammers early last year.
The executive manager of the operations and services branch of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Mark Loney, said: "Jammers put people at risk, as they can prevent legitimate signals from getting through.
"It's like a bad traffic jam," he said.
"If one of these jammers has been switched on when within a few car lengths of a police car, there's a danger that the police dispatch centre may have an incorrect location for the police car,'' Mr Loney said.
"Also, if the taxi was involved in an accident, the taxi dispatch centre may also have a wrong location for that vehicle.''
Police say they will investigate any instances of interference that could affect its officers or the public.
Taxi industry sources said jammers could be bought for about $25 on websites such as eBay.
Staff from ACMA and the taxi industry regulator, armed with radio emissions detectors, conducted a sting operation, dubbed Operation Signal, at city taxi ranks for several months early this year.
As a result two drivers were charged with breaking the Radiocommunications Act by "engaging in conduct which results in substantial interference or substantial disruption or disturbance with radiocommunications".
They are due to face magistrates' courts next month on the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of a year's jail.
Taxi Service Commission spokesman Jamie Collins said the problem was not widespread.
"Joint operations with agencies such as ACMA do take place on a regular basis," he said.
Drivers found using GPS jammers may be asked to "show cause" why they should be allowed to keep their taxi accreditation.
Victorian Taxi Association CEO David Samuel said it would like to see the eradication of electronic devices that interrupt GPS and other electronic signals.
Police spokesman Belle Nolan said the force was aware of instances of individuals using jammers to disguise their locations, but had no record of any police equipment being disrupted.
Ambulance Victoria also said it was unaware of any instances in which jammers had interfered with its GPS system or affected its response to emergency calls.
How does a GPS jammer work? 1. Cabbie flick on the jammer, which transmits interfering signals to block
2. GPS receivers. It also impacts the GPS devices in other nearby vehicles
3. The jammer disguises the taxi's true location and gives the impression the cabbie is in a certain suburb or area for a long time waiting for a fare, when they are actually out getting other fares
4. Booking networks then offer the next fare in that suburb or area to cab driver, thinking they have been waiting the longest
5. The driver who has actually been in the suburb or area the longest misses out on the fare
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-or ... 6756138559
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