Russians helped Queens men hack into taxi dispatch at Kennedy Airport

That’s just not fare.

A pair of Queens scammers, aided by Russian hackers, were busted for corrupting the electronic taxi dispatch system at Kennedy Airport in a long-running scheme to let cabbies zip past their competitors for customers, federal officials charged.

Daniel Abayev and Peter Leyman, both 48, were charged in the 13-month scam in which they conspired with the Russians to allow their paying clients to leapfrog over other drivers left waiting for hours, authorities alleged.

The defendants even discussed the ongoing operation in messages to their crooked colleagues in Russia, according to prosecutors.

“I know that the Pentagon is being hacked,” said co-conspirator Abayev in a message to one of the Russians. “So [why] can’t we hack the taxi industry?”

The illicit operation created as many as 1,000 expedited rides a day for the participating drivers who paid for a bump to the front of the lines, with word of mouth spreading news of the plot that cost just $10 a ride, federal officials said.

Once the hackers had access, word was allegedly spread by group chat threads with a simple message: “Shop open.” Other cabbies received a waiver of the $10 fee by luring new drivers into the scheme, authorities said.

“These two defendants — with the help of Russian hackers — took the Port Authority for a ride,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “For years, the defendants’ hacking kept honest cab drivers from being able to pick up fares at JFK. … These defendants are facing serious criminal charges for their alleged cybercrimes.”

Abayev, on the group chat, offered his customers advice on avoiding law enforcement detection of the illegal trips, according to authorities. The drivers were told to avoid a certain parking lot and a nearby gas station.

“Dear Drivers!!!” read one of the warnings. “Please!!! … You have to be very carefully.”

The two local suspects and their Russian partners successfully hacked the system at various times between November 2019 and November 2020, allowing the pair to move specific cabs to the front of the line for pickups as those on the outside sat idly, the feds said.

Cabbies typically wait for hours in an airport holding lot, with a computer dispatching the drivers in the order of their arrival to grab their fares.

The defendants were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and face maximum sentences of 10 years behind bars, authorities said. The two were arrested Tuesday morning in Queens, authorities said.

“This sophisticated, internationally coordinated conspiracy allegedly targeted hardworking taxi drivers trying to earn an honest living,” said Port Authority Inspector General John Gay. “The Port Authority has zero tolerance for bad actors violating the law at our facilities.”