Undercover sting catches illegal touts harassing airport passengers
Updated . First published at
Illegal drivers are continuing to harass incoming passengers at Melbourne Airport with little consequences, years after the practice was outlawed.
Known as touts, the unauthorised drivers solicit rides illegally inside the terminals, often charging unsuspecting travellers exorbitant fees.
Illegal drivers are continuing to harass incoming passengers at Melbourne Airport with little consequences. A Current Affair
An undercover sting conducted by A Current Affair with airport permission has exposed the scale of the illicit operation.
Multiple drivers fled on foot when confronted by the program, scaling fences and sprinting through garden beds.
Jai McDermott from Melbourne Airport said there were significant safety risks with the illegal operators.
“The best customers can hope for is they get ripped off, the worst case is we hear potential assaults, we hear of customers being left away from their destination,” McDermott told A Current Affair.
“We can often have them chased off the site in the morning and we see them back in the evening.
“They often work in groups, they look out for each other.”
Passengers expressed growing frustration with the persistent presence of the drivers and what they said was a lack of action by the government regulator.
“I could smell a rat straight away,” one traveller who was being led away by a touter told A Current Affair.
The program asked Safe Transport Victoria, the government body responsible for fining illegal operators, what it was doing to combat the problem and how many infringements it had issued over the past year.
The taxpayer-funded agency refused to participate in an on-camera interview or detail how many fines it had issued over the past year.
“Touting has no place at Melbourne Airport,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“Our Authorised Officers work closely with Melbourne Airport staff to detect, disrupt and deter illegal touting activity.”
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