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The fake toll station
Dal web
Fraudsters in India have been fleecing motorists for months with a deceptively real toll station. The scam earned the crooks over 600,000 francs. The scam only came to light when the real system's revenue fell.
A scam of huge proportions was uncovered in the Indian state of Gujarat: a group of criminals set up a fake toll booth and charged all those passing through.
As reported on the website "Rai News", the crooks used the abandoned site of a former factory, the White House Ceramic Company. There they set up a site with barriers and road signs. To motorists on the national highway between Bamanbore and Kutch, everything seemed perfectly normal.
The real toll plaza was only a few kilometers away. However, traffic was deliberately diverted to an alternative road controlled by the criminals. The scam continued unnoticed for around 18 months.
The success of the operation was based on two main factors.
The first was economic: the toll charged was about half the official rate.
Secondly, the operators relied on an ethical argument: they promised that the revenue would be used to build temples in nearby villages.
This promise convinced many drivers to pay without asking. This resulted in a steady flow of money into the pockets of the fraudsters. In total, the scam brought in around 75 million rupees - the equivalent of around 645,000 Swiss francs over one and a half years.
At the same time, the real toll station registered a gradual decline in the number of passages. This made the authorities suspicious.
The investigations ultimately led to several arrests. Among others, the operators of the detour and the owners of the affected properties were arrested.
On social media, many users reacted with disbelief and irony. Some referred to the fraudsters as "criminal geniuses" due to the audacity of their scheme.
