Indian student visa resident 28 yo with Melbourne: Sentenced to prison for scammer scheme that swindled Uber out of more than AUD 230,000 (approximately ₹1.28 crore). The fraud has disrupted the international student society in Australia, stressing the gravity of financial wrongdoing and violations of visas.
The Structure of the “Refund Scam”
The convict, who was an international student who worked part time as an Uber driver, took advantage of a loophole in the ride-hailing giant’s system for calculating billable payments and receiving refunds. From 2024 to late 2025 the man arranged several fraudulent transactions:
Ghost Trips: The driver set up a variety of fictitious rider accounts to reserve long-distance rides. Refund Deception: After “finishing” such phantom trips, he would leverage the rider accounts for refunds claiming “technical problems” or “service dissatisfaction”.
The Loophole
Because of an error on the automated processing system at the time, Uber would give the “rider” (the driver himself) a refund while the original payout to the “driver” stayed in his account. Thousands of times of doing this, utilizing automated scripts and burner phones, would eventually gather more than ₹1.28 crore, before Uber’s security systems spotted irregular refund patterns.
Sentencing at Melbourne County Court
On January 29 in the Melbourne County Court, the judge said the fraud had been “premeditated, persistent, and driven by greed.”. The defense asserted as was put out in the case that the student was desperate, desperately working to cover his tuition fee and support his family in India. Nonetheless the prosecution contended that the scale of the life he lived spending thousands on luxuries and engaging in high-stakes gambling undermined the “financial hardship” plea.
The Verdict
Prison Term: The defendant was sentenced to a term of 2 years and 6 months in prison. Repayment Order: The judge ordered that his remaining assets be seized to compensate Uber. Deportation: Once he finishes serving his sentence, his student visa will be officially cancelled and he will be subject to compulsory deportation to India.
Warnings to International Students
Under the high-profile case, Australian officials and student unions have sounded a stern warning to the country's more than 700,000 international students currently residing there. "Most of our students are the backbone of our economy and society. But those involved in systemic fraud will also be liable to the law, regardless of their visa status,” said a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The event has also led Uber to revamp its refund algorithms around the world to ensure similar “duplicate payout” scams don’t happen again.
