A hero member of the public helped catch a scammer spamming thousands of commuters with fraudulent text messages.
The fraudster – now jailed – tried to steal the personal information of train users using an ‘SMS blaster’ hidden in a large suitcase at Victoria station.
On July 1, 2025, a passenger received a spam text message while taking the Victoria line.
The text claimed to be from Parcel Mail and asked the receiver to click on a link to update their delivery details for a package.
Fortunately, this passenger was familiar with ‘SMS blasters’.
He grew suspicious of Chen when he noticed him loitering on the platform with a large suitcase – not getting on any trains or leaving the platform.
British Transport Police officers were called and arrived at Victoria Underground station where Chen was found sitting on a bench next to a large green suitcase.
Chen said he was waiting for a friend and the suitcase had been given to him earlier in the day by another man.
But inside the suitcase officers found a portable battery attached to an electrical unit with a green flashing light and a black antenna.
Chen was then arrested at once and taken into custody.
While in custody, the officer checked his phone and saw that he had received the same spam text message that had been sent to the colleague.
A technical security adviser reported that there were 165 reports to mobile phone carriers of the same spam text message coming from the same number between 2.38pm and 10.37pm on July 1.
Kong Ji Chen, 31 (09/10/1994) and of no fixed address, was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison at Inner London Crown Court yesterday (October 15) after pleading guilty.
Investigating officer DC Adrienne Curzon said: “I’m very pleased with the result in this case.
This is Kong Ji Chen who was arrested by officers after they found an SMS blaster in his suitcase 😮💼
He had been loitering on an Underground platform, sending phishing texts to commuters.
He will now be spending the next 6 months in prison.
Read more on our website. pic.twitter.com/QgLsw3c8nK
— British Transport Police (@BTP) October 16, 2025
“Chen targeted potentially thousands of commuters, attempting to harvest their data.
“The conviction was achieved thanks to the close work our officers undertook with mobile network operators including BT, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone as well as the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom.
“Thanks to the vigilance of one member of the public, our officers were able to act and prevent more people from being targeted and becoming victims of Chen’s fraudulent endeavour.
“We rely on members of the public to report anything they see that they feel might be suspicious.
“If you see something that doesn’t look right, text us on 61016 and we’ll investigate.”
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