Bilingual text here: https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/news/2026318W03EA?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
雙語文字版: https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/news/2026318W03EA?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description

Our official website: ➔ https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/

Follow us on
Facebook: ➔ https://www.facebook.com/ftvformosanews
X (Twitter): ➔ https://x.com/FTV_Taiwan_News
A bizarre bike swap scheme backfired in Taichung after a man tried to get out of paying for his YouBike rental. The incident took place last week, when a high school student left his YouBike parked outside a hot pot restaurant while he was having dinner inside. It was then that another YouBike rider surreptitiously swapped out his YouBike for the student’s, in an attempt to pay a lower rental fee. The student didn’t see the swap and unknowingly returned the perpetrator’s bike to the dock. But he realized something was up when he later received a notification telling him that he had yet to return his bike, and that his rental fee was NT$1,700. That’s when he got the police involved.

A man rolls up on a YouBike. He gets off and pushes his own YouBike next to another one parked on the side of the road. He pulls out his bag from the basket and rummages inside for a bit, before putting it back. Here’s the weird part. He doesn’t put the bag in his own YouBike’s basket, but on the one parked next to it. Even stranger, he hops on the wrong bike and rides away. What is going on?

Victim
Man rode off with YouBike
I looks intentional. He was passing by and turned back. He even adjusted the height of the seat to be the same and took off with my bike.

This student had rented a bike near Taichung’s Yizhong Market and rode to a hot pot restaurant on Yucai North Road, where he parked his bike while he was having a meal inside. He didn’t notice the switch up at all, and got on the perpetrator’s bike and returned it to the docking station thinking it was his. He realised something was wrong when he received a text warning him that the YouBike he had rented had not yet been returned. Fearing a fee of NT$15,000 for lost bikes, he went to the police.

Chen Yen-yu
Police officer
On March 17, a suspect surnamed Chan was apprehended and investigated on charges of misappropriation.

Mr. Chan had tried to get out of paying his own high rental fee with the bizarre bike swap, but didn’t realize how easily the scheme would fall through. The bikes are all registered to accounts with renters’ legal names, and so even if the bikes are switched, it can all be traced back to the original renter, who could face criminal charges.

Other renter
Knows how to use YouBikes
The mobile app keeps a record, telling you where you last rented the bike and where you returned it. In situations like this, you can contact customer services or report it to the police.

The mobile app has a record of every rental. In the case in Taichung, the student rented his bike at 5:37 p.m. on March 14. The switch-up happened at 6:22 that evening, and the perpetrator didn’t return the bike until 8:57 at night the following day, resulting in a bill of NT$1,700. But thanks to the investigation, the highschooler just had to pay his original fee of NT$10.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53


#台灣新聞 #TaiwanNews #民視新聞 #FTV新聞 #Taiwan