Russians hacked JFK taxi dispatch in line-cutting scheme: feds

Two Queens men conspired with Russian computer whizzes to hack the taxi dispatch system at JFK Airport in a scheme that allowed drivers to skip to the front of the pick-up line, federal prosecutors charged Tuesday. 

Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman, both 48, first successfully hacked the dispatch system in 2019 with the help of other unnamed associates, some of them Russian nationals, according to an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York. 

“I know that the Pentagon is being hacked … So, can’t we hack the taxi industry?” Abayev allegedly wrote to one of the Russians in November 2019.

Following the first successful intrusion, Abayev, Leyman and other members of the scam gained control of the taxi dispatch system sporadically over the course of the next year, according to the feds.

On days when they controlled the system, they would charge drivers waiting to be called to a terminal from a holding lot at the airport $10 to skip the queue — which frequently would have been an hours-long wait, according to the indictment. 

The cabbies who shelled out the dough gave the schemers their medallion number while waiting at a central holding lot — and were then told which terminal to head to in order to skip the line, according to the indictment.

Word of the scheme spread among airport hacks — and people working with Abayev and Leyman used sprawling group chats to let drivers know which days they could pay the fee to jump to the front of the line. 

“Shop open,” a member of the scheme would text the group chats when they had control of the system for the day.

“Shop closed,” they would write when they did not, the indictment states.

Abayev, Leyman and their co-conspirators registered up to 1,000 illegally expedited trips on a given day, according to the feds.

It’s unclear exactly how much they made through the scheme — but they allegedly gave the Russian hackers more than $100,000 of the ill-gotten cash.

Abayev and Leyman were each hit with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and face up to 10 years in prison. 

Both were cut loose on $100,000 bond at their presentments in Manhattan federal court Tuesday. They will have their travel monitored and will not be allowed to use internet-accessible devices unless they are monitored by pre-trial services.

It was unclear Tuesday if the two were taxi drivers themselves but Abayev’s name matched one in the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission database.

“As alleged in the indictment, these two defendants — with the help of Russian hackers — took the Port Authority for a ride,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. 

“For years, the defendants’ hacking kept honest cab drivers from being able to pick up fares at JFK in the order in which they arrived,” he added. 

Port Authority Inspector General John Gay added: “The Port Authority has zero tolerance for bad actors violating the law at our facilities.”

An attorney for Leyman did not immediately respond. Attorney information for Abayev was not immediately available. 

Additional reporting by David Meyer