Reached by phone this Tuesday evening, Yohan
(the first name has been changed)
, 27, still blames himself for being "so naive".
Last week, while he was connecting in Paris, to go to Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) from Montpellier (Hérault), an “underground transporter,” as the taxi drivers call them, scammed him.
He asked him… 262 euros for a trip between Gare de Lyon and Gare Montparnasse.
Before conceding 170 euros!
A scam which, according to Yohan's testimony, seems perfectly established.
“I only had forty minutes to leave the Gare de Lyon and go to Montparnasse to take my second train to Nantes,” he recalls.
Between the Covid, the fear of being crowded at rush hour in the metro and the risk of making a mistake, he opts for the taxi.
On a motorbike, a solicitor claims that Paris is on fire
Leaving the train, a horde of touts storms it.
"A first offered me a motorcycle taxi ride," says Yohan.
He told me that Paris was on fire, that there were demonstrations everywhere ”.
Astonished, Yohan quickly looks on his smartphone: “There was nothing.
I understood it was a scam.
He continues on his way.
A little further on, another driver calls out to him: “I asked him if it was a real taxi.
He showed me a business card, so I believed him, ”he continues.
Yohan asks for the price of the trip to Montparnasse.
His interlocutor lets go, without batting an eyelid, "100 euros".
Six times more than the normal price.
“This is my first professional trip, I have never taken a taxi in my life.
Even less in Paris.
I had no idea of the prices, he justified himself.
As it was rush hour, I imagined a lot of traffic jams, I was stressed to miss my connection, it did not shock me.
"
A fake meter on a smartphone
They join the vehicle together in the taxi area.
Once on board, the driver activates a meter via an application on his smartphone: "I told myself that it was the new method of taxis", Yohan comments again.
Then, arriving in front of the automatic barrier to leave the taxi area of the Gare de Lyon, the fake driver pretends not to be able to open it and sighs: "He told me that it never worked, that it was. unbearable… ”The man then gets out of the car and manually pushes the barrier with the confident gesture of someone who is used to it.
Then resumes its course to Montparnasse station.
"I didn't know what to do, I was afraid of missing my train"
“There, he leaves me in front of an ATM and asks me… 262 euros!
".
The young man is opposed.
“I negotiated a bit and it quickly came down to 170 euros.
So I accepted, he regrets.
I should have insisted more but I did not know what to do, I was always afraid of missing my train ”.
He pulls the money, gives it to the driver and runs to find the right platform.
Once in the direction of Nantes, Yohan is chomping at the bit.
"It was my first trip since confinement, I was happy to be able to go out, it ruined everything".
On returning to Montpellier, he decides to file a complaint: “I don't have a license plate number or a car model… I know it won't lead to anything”.
He didn't even dare tell his business.
So, at the very least, Yohan warned the unions and wants to testify "because these people abuse vulnerable people, and it is not tolerable".
Taxi unions appeal to the state
The phenomenon is not new.
But, according to the statements of taxi unions, it has grown with the health crisis.
“Before, they were more at airports.
But with the decline in activity, they are more numerous in the stations, ”testifies Karim Asnoun, of the CGT taxis.
And their presence generates even more tension, faced with taxis who are forced to wait for customers for long hours.
Gare de Lyon, March 24.
At the exit of the trains, people come to offer car journeys to travelers.
Often scams.
LP / Jila Varoquier
At the end of February, the unions (including the CGT, CFDT, UNT, Sud, Gescop, FO, Chambre Syndicale des Leasinges de Automobiles Automobiles) denounced in a joint letter sent to the Ministry of the Interior "the omnipresence of these acts of soliciting ".
"It is clear that despite the goodwill of each other, these crimes continue and considerably harm not only our profession, of course, injured travelers, we can read, but also the image of our capital and therefore from France.
"
"It's an explosion"
“In thirty years in the business, I've never seen that.
It's an explosion, ”sighs Jean Barreira, president of the New Paris Taxis.
And the fraud is organized.
"Touts" are responsible for harpooning the right tourist, then send him to the driver, who can double or triple the prices: "Their victims are vulnerable people.
If they have an accent or look in a rush, they'll turn them on!
»Warns Ferat.
“We are destitute, we cannot police, recognizes Jean Barreira.
If the police don't do anything, I don't see how we're going to be able to get out of this.
"
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So in the meantime, the New Paris Taxis union has released a “survival guide” for customers.
🚨 Stations and airports - The Survival Guide!
- Dear customers, do not hesitate to share with your entourage, your family and your friends
- Dear colleagues, do not expect anything from others to protect our profession, let us act ourselves, by sharing with our customers!
pic.twitter.com/LuOCrExJnh
- The New Parisian Taxis (@LNTParisiens) January 8, 2021
Chance of the calendar, Tuesday evening, the authors of a similar scam, at the beginning of January, were arrested.
The crooks had scammed two business tourists by asking them € 230 for a Roissy-Paris.
In a previous case, a crook driver, filmed by the Thai victims to whom he had asked 247 euros, could be identified.
He was found, tried and sentenced to eight months in prison.
*
The first name has been changed.
