Staff Reporter: Yang Moumou was a driver for a ride-hailing platform in Wuhan, Hubei Province. He偶然 discovered that by placing fake orders himself, he could settle them using the platform's ride coupons without providing any actual freight service. The court sentenced Yang Moumou to 1 year in prison with a 2-year suspension and a fine of 5,000 yuan for fraud.

　　"The platform issues coupons to consumers, so I often used my other phone before bed to claim a coupon and then place an order for a very remote location, thinking that other drivers would see how remote it was and wouldn't want to compete with me for the order. After accepting the order, I used a computer to simulate completing the trip, so I didn't have to actually drive and could cash out the coupon," Yang Moumou said. Having discovered this "loophole," Yang Moumou was carried away by his own "cleverness." Between 2021 and March 2023, using five accounts created with the phone numbers of relatives and friends as well as his own, Yang Moumou created more than 1,000 fake orders to "exploit the loophole," defrauding the company of over 24,000 yuan in subsidies. Investigation after the case was exposed revealed that there were more than 70 other drivers "exploiting the loophole" like Yang Moumou, with a cumulative order volume reaching an astonishing more than 34,000 orders and total losses of over 450,000 yuan.

　　The amount of company property Yang Moumou defrauded was relatively large, and his conduct constituted the crime of fraud. Yang Moumou stated: "When I first got involved in fake orders, I never thought it was illegal. I saw others doing it too, and the platform didn't ban my account, so I thought I was just taking a small advantage." After legal education by the public security, procuratorate, and court authorities, Yang Moumou deeply regretted his previous conduct and expressed willingness to actively cooperate with the relevant work to help the platform recover its losses, returning all of his illegal gains. Ultimately, the court sentenced Yang Moumou to 1 year in prison with a 2-year suspension and a fine of 5,000 yuan.

　　After the verdict was announced, some drivers at Yang Moumou's company actively returned their illicit gains, achieving the positive effect of "trying one case to warn a whole group."

Source: Workers' Daily