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A man from Acton who led a gang of fraudsters using “SMS blasters” to scam London Underground commuters out of thousands of pounds has been jailed for four years and eight months.
Zhijia Fan, 48, of Winchester Street in Acton, was described by investigators as the head of the organised crime group behind the scheme. He was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday (24 February 2026) after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud and possession of articles used in fraud.
His right-hand man, Daoyan Shang, 20, of Caxton Road, Shepherd’s Bush, was jailed for two years and 10 months. Wan Mohd Hafiz, 41, of Queensway, Paddington, received one year and two months. Gatis Lauks, 25, of no fixed address, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years after admitting fraud by misrepresentation.
The investigation began on 11 March 2025 when an off-duty British Transport Police detective noticed a suitcase with perforated holes emitting a green flash on the Northern line platform at King’s Cross Underground station. Officers detained a man and seized the case, discovering an SMS blaster inside.
The devices act as fake mobile phone towers, tricking nearby phones into connecting and sending mass text messages containing links to fraudulent websites. Commuters received messages purporting to be from Royal Mail and Evri, claiming parcels could not be delivered and urging recipients to enter personal and banking details.
Two weeks later, a second device was recovered from Hafiz at Baker Street station. Detectives later arrested Fan in Acton and Shang at Baker Street. Searches of their homes uncovered components used to build the devices and more than 10,800 gift cards loaded with over £80,000 in criminal proceeds. Lauks was responsible for buying the cards using victims’ bank details.
Detective Inspector Tim Weekes said: “These organised scammers concealed SMS blasters in suitcases in a bid to plunder the bank accounts of unsuspecting commuters.
“Their plot to defraud passengers was foiled by one of our vigilant detectives who was off duty when he spotted the device at a London Tube station.”
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