A gang of fake taxi drivers scammed tourists in Paris out of nearly £600,000 with rigged card readers, prosecutors have claimed.
The defendants are accused of posing as taxi drivers by using counterfeit number plates on unlicensed cars.
They allegedly targeted tourists waiting for lifts near the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse railway station and department stores.
The four drivers have been accused of overcharging customers by secretly altering fares on contactless payment terminals in a scam known as ‘sum up’.
The scam works by obscuring the screen from view, or using one with a deliberately damaged display, so customers do not realise how much they are paying.
Drivers could allegedly increase a payment of €19 to €1,900, presenting the terminal to victims while concealing the final figure, according to French outlet Capital.
In many cases, passengers did not realise they had been scammed until their accounts were debited several days later.
Approximately 80 tourists are seeking to recoup losses of €680,000.
One alleged victim, named locally as David, believed he had paid €38.60 after being picked up from the Trocadéro, an esplanade beside the Seine.
A gang of fake taxi drivers scammed tourists in Paris out of nearly £600,000 with rigged card readers, prosecutors have claimed (stock image)
After checking his bank statement, he discovered he had in fact been charged €2,500.
‘I immediately blocked my card, opened a dispute with my bank, and filed a complaint,’ he told Capital.
Prosecutors have also alleged the gang resorted to violence if customers challenged the fares.
One passenger was run over by a driver after disputing a charge, suffering injuries that left him unable to work for two months, Capital reported.
Police uncovered the alleged scam by examining phone records and tracing them back to the suspects, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.
The four suspects were arrested in raids on June 3 at addresses in the communes of Chennevières, Bonneuil-sur-Marne and Essonne, on the outskirts of Paris.
Prosecutors have charged the defendants with fraud and money laundering.
The scam was allegedly organised by a 27-year-old man named Boubaker, who provided eight vehicles disguised as taxis and equipped with fake licence plates.
The syndicate is said to have coordinated its operations between December 2024 and January 2026 through a Snapchat group called ‘Elchapo94’, a reference to the alias of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán.
Police seized €53,000 in cash, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and rounds during the search of Boubaker’s residence.
Large sums of money, high-end goods, counterfeit licence plates and taxi equipment were also seized from the other suspects.
The alleged gang members are facing up to 10 years in prison. They have not formally entered pleas.
