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Story summary
- Four defendants were sentenced for a sophisticated text message scam targeting London Underground passengers, using homemade "SMS blasters" hidden in suitcases to send fake delivery messages.
- Zhijia Fan, 48, led the operation and laundered £600,000 through gift cards.
- Co-defendants Daoyan Shang, 20, Wan Hafiz, 41, and Gatis Lauks, 25, were involved in the scheme.
- Gatis Lauks admitted to purchasing gift cards using stolen bank details.
- The fraud was uncovered after a British Transport Police detective spotted the device at King's Cross station, prompting an investigation with mobile network operators and the National Cyber Security Centre.
