Gang ‘took SMS blasters on tube to steal thousands from Londoners with fake delivery texts’

A gang trying to scam Londoners into handing over thousands of pounds were foiled by an off-duty police officer, a court has heard.

Two men were caught wheeling heavy suitcases equipped with homemade ‘SMS blasters’ around the London Underground network, Inner London Crown Court heard.

The alleged ‘smishing’ plot involving ‘top boss’ Zhijia Fan, 48, and his ‘right-hand man’ Daoyan Shang, 20, unravelled when an off-duty British Transport Police officer (BTP) became suspicious after spotting a large suitcase that was being dragged around was covered in holes.

Prosecutor Alex Davidson said unsuspecting passengers who walked past the suitcases, which were dragged by a team of gang members, received fake messages about a failed parcel delivery and a link inviting them to sort the problem but the aim was really to ‘plunder their bank accounts’.

Fan and Shang, both of no fixed address, have each denied a charge of conspiracy to defraud and a count of possessing an article to be used in fraud between January and March 2025.

Mr Davidson told the jury: ‘The prosecution say that these two individuals were part of a crime group who, early last year, wheeled around devices in suitcases – known as SMS blasters – (that is a) short message service or text message – on the London Underground which sent scam messages to passengers’ phones, pretending to be from Evri and Royal Mail.

Mr Davidson told the court these text messages said packages could not be delivered and invited recipients ‘to follow a link and input their personal details, in order to use those details to access and take money from the bank accounts of ordinary members of the public and take their money’.

He explained to the jury this is known as ‘smishing’ – a word which combines SMS and phishing, where fraudsters try to get people to reveal personal information by duping them into thinking they are from a reputable company.

Mr Davidson added: ‘Phone numbers are targeted and fraudulent text messages are broadcast, using a rather sophisticated device, which is adapted for the sole purpose of defrauding the public.’

He described the SMS blaster as a ‘crude’ device which worked by ‘masquerading as a legitimate cell tower, tricking nearby phones into connecting to it instead of their normal network’ and ‘once a phone connects to the SMS blaster, fraudulent messages are sent with links to fraudulent websites’.

The London Underground network, which boasts millions of passenger trips each day, was used as a hunting ground for the gang, the court heard.

Mr Davidson said: ‘As the SMS blaster works by capturing the phones of unwitting members of public, they are deployed in dense urban areas with high footfall and limited signal where phones can connect to legitimate cell towers.’

The prosecution claim Fan lead the gang and directed others to carry out the work on the London Underground network.

The court heard they used large suitcases, whose bottoms were reinforced with metal and had holes punched into the material, to allow ventilation for the ‘rather bulky and heavy’ base stations which were regularly breaking down.

Mr Davidson said: ‘It is the case of the prosecution that Mr Fan is the head of the crime organisation – in fact he is saved in the telephone of Mr Shang as ‘top boss’.

‘We say he sits at the apex of this organised crime group and Mr Shang is his right-hand man, his lieutenant.’

Mobile phones and an antenna were seized from Fan while the same items along with bases stations were discovered in Shang’s possession after the men were arrested, it is alleged.

The jury were told that Wan Hafiz, an alleged member of the gang, has pleaded guilty, while another suspect called Jinhua Zhang is on the run having fled when he was released on bail.

Mr Davidson told the jury: ‘The reason why this is significant is because you can be in no doubt that there was a conspiracy to defraud the public by deploying SMS blasters on the underground. The question for you is whether Mr Fan and Mr Shang were part of that conspiracy.’

There also were plans by another alleged gang member to target the Paris Metro with a similar fraud, the court heard.

Mr Davidson told the jury that Gatis Lauks ‘has pleaded guilty to a separate fraud’.

It is alleged that Fan was also discussing with Lauks about ‘the feasibility of the deployment’ of SMS blasters on the Paris Metro.

Mr Davidson added: ‘The prosecution say this is nonetheless further evidence which implicates Mr Fan as showing that he is someone who is in the business of defrauding members of the public.’

The court heard that Zhang was arrested in March 2025 after a ‘very perceptive’ off-duty BTP officer who was waiting for a train became suspicious after spotting a suitcase with holes punched into it.

Fan, Shang and Hafiz were arrested at a later date, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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