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If you’ve ever wondered why so many people are mounting cameras on their car’s dashboard recently, you might want to take a look at this short video. In it, we witness an increasingly common sight in mainland China: a scammer throwing himself at a moving vehicle in the hopes of receiving reparations for (often non-existent) personal injury.

This time, though, the scammer was caught in the act by a surveillance camera positioned directly above the junction at which he chose to try his little scam, and as a result had to cough up some cash of his own.

While by no means a problem exclusive to China, cases of individuals faking road accidents in this way have become increasingly prevalent in the country’s larger cities over the last few years. Many drivers are installing cameras to capture footage of their journeys to use as proof of their innocence should they run into – or not, as the case may be – one of these crooks, but the scammers themselves are also switching tactics and instead barrelling into the sides of vehicles out of sight of dash-mounted cameras.

Fortunately for the driver of this red car, a CCTV camera was watching everything that took place at a busy junction one recent afternoon.

▼ Despite the traffic moving, this guy in a white t-shirt starts walking diagonally across the crossing as a car approaches.

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▼ He approaches the passenger-side of the car and, making no attempt to mask his intentions, prepares to pounce.

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▼ Juuuump!

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▼ “Oh no, I have been hit by a car! Someone help me!”

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The man then gets up and approaches the driver’s side of the car, presumably to feign anger and pretend that he is going to contact the police.

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But thankfully, both the scammer’s casual approach and melodramatic dive were all caught on camera, and the authorities soon arrived to tell him off, and, according to Japan’s Toychan.net, the man was promptly fined 1,000 yuan (US$160) for damage done to the car. There is (some) justice in the world after all.

Here’s the video in full. Enjoy.

I’ve seen professional footballers dive with more conviction than that…

Source: YouTube via Toychan.net