Couple forced to pay Dh1,726 for taxi fare

Police are now hunting the taxi gang who offered the pair a cab to their hotel.

A British couple were conned by taxi driver who forced them to hand over $470 (Dh1,726 approx) for a 10 minute cab journey in New York. Craig Nickels, 30, gave in to the taxi driver's demand as he feared being attacked or robbed of the engagement ring that he was carrying in his suitcase to propose to his girlfriend, Ellie Austin.
Nickels and his girlfriend, Austin, 24, were picked up by the rogue taxi from outside JFK airport. Nickels was oblivious to the fact that the taxi driver was a part of the gang engaged in duping passengers. When the taxi driver asked for the enormous fare, Nickels agreed to pay and also handed over passport details, address as the driver falsely claimed the massive sum was due to new city-wide tolls.
Nickels, a Tesco worker and dad-of-two warned other British tourists and holidaymakers to travel by the yellow cabs. "I knew it was supposed to be 50 or 60 dollars but I started to get scared. There were two guys and I had no idea what they were going to do." He added, "I was worried they'd drive off with the bags, or they had a weapon. I just thought that our health and safety was worth more than any money," according to Mirror.uk
The men in the taxi threatened the couple although they were getting physical. "He was going on and on about how his boss would get involved, and while he wasn't physically forceful, he was trying to scare me. I gave him $470. I was shaken up and upset and scared," Nickels said.
The pair had saved for months for the trip from Manchester Airport to New York and said were 'exhausted'. Police are now hunting the taxi gang who offered the pair a cab to their hotel. Nickels added that they should have been suspicious when the taxi driver led them away to a private car park instead. "He started explaining to us that there were new toll fees for going between borough and over bridges," recalled Nickels, adding, "He then told me to take me to Manhattan it was going to be $900. I told him to pull over. We only had $900 total. I panicked. I had the engagement ring in the back in the bags."
The couple called police who took statements when they returned to the airport five days later.
However, Nickels went on to propose to Ellie at the top of the Rockefeller Center whilst their New York holiday. "Obviously it was a brilliant holiday, but the scam did take the shine off it," he said.