A food deliveryman who allegedly faked 15 accidents and feigned injury over two months, extorting more than 5,000 yuan (US$740) from drivers, has been arrested, Jinshan District People’s Procuratorate said yesterday.

On November 19, an e-bike crashed into the rear of a car while it was reversing. Behind the car, the driver found deliveryman Zhang lying on the ground. He claimed that the car had run him over and asked the driver for 1,000 yuan for medical treatment.

The driver suspected Zhang was faking and called the police who noticed that Zhang had been involved in several similar accidents.

After an investigation, Zhang confessed that his e-bike had collided with a car in June and he had been paid off by the driver, which inspired him to fake traffic accidents for money.

Zhang owed a number of gambling debts and decided to use his bike to crash into cars when they were backing up or making a turn, claiming he was injured and asking drivers to compensate him through Alipay and WeChat, eventually defrauding drivers out of more than 5,000 yuan.