this is going back a few (10 – gulp!) years. and i was only party to it on a few occasions, although a couple of mates often did it.
after a night raving up town (london) we used to jump into one of the dodgy cabs – the ones that aren't licenced (not even sure if the drivers had a licence). the drivers would all be competing to get a fare "london anywhere, 10 pounds".
anyways, we'd get in… tell him where to go and upon reaching our town get him to drop us off right outside the Police Station. and then we'd refuse to pay….
saved a fortune over the years… a normal taxi would have cost about 50 quid.