Woman Arrested After Making $423K Betting on Delayed Flights

A Chinese woman who has been making money off the incessant flight delays in China was arrested by local authorities.

Identified only by her surname Li, the 45-year-old woman from Nanjing purportedly got rich off local flights taking off late, reports Shanghaiist.

From 2015 to 2019, Li reportedly booked nearly a thousand flights despite having no plans of actually flying anywhere.

She has created a money-making scheme by purchasing flight delay insurance and raking in the claims.

Li prepares by doing her research, analyzing local weather patterns and news predictions before buying the insurance, to determine which flights might get delayed or canceled.

In a bid to avoid suspicion, she used not just her name but also the names of her friends and family members in her transactions.

Taking advantage of the system, Li has made approximately 3 million yuan ($423,000) after having booked more than 900 flights.

Local authorities eventually got wind of her scam and conducted an investigation. It did not take long before Li was apprehended. On Friday, she was charged with fraud.

Chinese travel service providers have since learned their lesson from Li and are now correcting the loopholes that made her scam possible.

Policies are now updated to include a provision that compensation may only be paid for those who actually used the booked flight.

Feature Image via The Paper

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