An 18-year-old Singaporean exploited a loophole in ComfortDelGro's mobile payment system, cheating the taxi company of close to S$2,600 worth of taxi rides on 117 occasions.

According to CNA, the teen pleaded guilty to one charge of performing a computer function to commit an offence of cheating.

The teen, who was under 18 at the time of the crime, cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act.

The teen discovered the loophole and tested his theory by booking another ride

On October 29, 2019, the teen downloaded the ComfortDelGro booking app, and created an account, linking one of his POSB/DBS debit cards to the NETS Click payment method for his account.

He then booked a taxi ride with the NETS Click method.

As he had sufficient funds in his bank account for the taxi ride, the taxi booking was approved by Comfort.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the teen then used the same debit card to purchase items from a convenience store while waiting for the taxi to arrive.

He knew that making such purchases would leave him with insufficient funds to pay for the taxi ride, and was expecting to see a negative value in his bank account.

After completing his taxi ride, he checked his bank account, and was surprised to find out that the taxi fare was not deducted from his bank account.

Subsequently, he tested his suspicion regarding the potential loophole by booking another taxi ride in the same way, ensuring that he had sufficient funds in his bank account at the time of booking.

Once the booking was approved, he transferred money out of his bank account before the taxi ride was completed.

After completing the second taxi ride, he realised that the taxi fare was not deducted from his bank account due to insufficient funds, and began using the loophole more frequently, by booking taxi rides for his own use, and for his friends.

He made a profit of more than S$300 by selling cheap taxi rides

Court documents also revealed that the teen used the loophole to earn a profit, by advertising cheap taxi rides on a Telegram group chat called SG Hitch.

He would offer members of the group cheaper taxi rides than what the Comfort App showed, and use the loophole to ensure that no money was deducted from his account for the rides.

In total, he made several fictitious accounts to book 117 taxi rides for himself, his friends, and to earn a profit, causing ComfortDelGro to incur a loss of S$2,598.60.

He has not made any restitution to ComfortDelGro, according to court documents.

The teen managed to make a profit of about S$300 to S$400, and spent all his profits on food and entertainment.

Police report was made on the same day the exploit was discovered

A manager of the sales and marketing department in ComfortDelGro noticed the fraudulent transactions, and made a police report on October 29, 2019, the same day the teen first exploited the loophole.

After the police report was lodged, ComfortDelGro conducted checks, and discovered that the fraudulent transactions were linked to the taxi bookings made via their taxi booking mobile application.

According to CNA, the judge called for reports to assess the teen's suitability for probation and reformative training, and he will return to court for sentencing on Sep. 29.

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Top image via ComfortDelGro/FB.