After I arrived to pickup Lisa at the Omni Hotel in DTLA, I send my customary text to let her know I’ve arrived. 30 seconds later my phone rings and its some guy, who literally sounds like a Nigerian prince, telling me that he’s from Uber and he knows I’m at the Omni to pickup Lisa, but she’s not coming and I should cancel the ride at no charge, but Uber will still pay me the standard cancel fee of $6.35 (?). There was more, but I honestly couldn’t understand him, so asked him to repeat part of it, while I watched the time get closer to the 2 minute mark. Of course the red flags were up especially when he said something about a special bonus after I canceled her at no charge. I said sure, and hung up right after the 2 minute mark, and waited for the 5 minute mark. He called 3 more times, I rejected the calls, then he texted me telling me to cancel at no charge, which of course I ignored, as the timer clicked toward 5 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, got a screen shot of the Cancel notice, then canceled and later verified my cancel fee, $4. Btw the destination address “Lisa” was going to was less than a mile. I don’t know if there was a real scam coming (he never got around to asking me for any personal info), or just someone trying to get out of a cancel fee, but if he had simply canceled at the time he made the first call, there would have been no charge. I didn’t just fall of the turnip truck!
Good job for not falling for the scam. Hopefully with the information you sent to Uber they will deactivate him
When I get those calls I hit start trip immediately. And drive til they cancel 
because they aren’t going to contest the trip when they are scammers lol. Make that money let’s start being smart and get their money and maybe they will stop that foolishness
Once they hit cancel I get the same cancel fee, if they cancel fast enough. Not worth the hassle, I got another ride almost immediately.
And if they don’t cancel right away then hey…you have more money on a trip. Trust me thou…as soon as they see the trip started they cancel.
Getting to a highway quickly, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Vomit pictures. Now thats another great idea that I would not have thought of.
Do it all day for that $4… No additional miles on your car, no annoying pax, just you and the timer… hell yes
You guys realize you’re not scanning them right? The accounts are created with stolen credit card info, so it’s costing them nothing. They dgaf
Probably, but I’m sure he’s a bit frustrated, and I get paid (I hope). Or it could have been someone just trying to get out of a cancel fee. Im not sure, but if I canceled, wouldn’t that cancel the phone connection, so how would the conversation continue?
I just started driving Uber yesterday. Can you explain what the scam is please and what to look for
Very easy, just remember to NEVER give any of your account information to ANYONE. Uber already knows the info and won’t ask you for it. Anything else is a scam
They will ask for your username, password, etc, then clean out your earnings with instant pay. Uber or Lyft will never call you, and even if they did, they should already know your info. Just don’t give them any info, and don’t cancel til you get 5 minutes. Note, if they cancel after 2 minutes, you get a fee in some cities.
One of these scams went like this… they’d request an Uber - and remember - they could request you from anywhere in the world… they could be in Nigeria (and probably are) for all you know!
They get you on the phone, by calling through the app after you’ve accepted the trip. They tell you they’re from Uber - and they ask you to cancel the trip. They tell you you’re going to get a big bonus but you have to cancel the trip first. When & if you cancel the trip, they then tell you they need to verify your Uber login credentials or your payment information or whatever information it is they want to get out of you.
Usually they sound very legit and official so some drivers have fallen for it. The ones I heard about here in New York were asked for their uber login email address & password. A couple of guys gave it to them. If they could login to your account, they could then access your instant pay and type in their debit card number and have the money sent instantly to them!
I arrived on site and finally called a passenger and asked where he was for him to cancel. I said nope you cancel he didn’t so I let it tick down to that cancel and marked him no show but I went and had already screen shot I was on site cause I was going to get that cancellation fee one way or another. So tired of people requesting rides and changing minds.
Yeah that’s usually how they start off that scam. And after you get your cancellation contact Uber let them know what happened and be sure to let them know that you do not want your account interrupted and go ahead and send them a copy of your driver’s license and a picture of you holding them. Doing this helps to get rid of that account instead of deactivating you until you can prove your identity. Anytime you report something fraudulent prove your identity in the same email
Ya a scam… also if it happens again… send a pic of vomit to Uber that he threw up in your car and charge that dipshit the $150 cleaning fee.
I had one last week. So I picked up a female customer from a local dealership where she supposedly purchasing a new vehicle. On the way to her house we engaged in small talk and she told me that she was a motorcycle police officer. However, she knew nothing about her supposed motorcycle…and when I asked her about the cubic gallons of her engine she told me it was a 3.5 cubic gallon engine (BUSTED!) So I drop her off and realize that she cancelled my ride about a mile into the trip. Oh no, we’re not playing that game. So, I accepted her partial fare, called in and got the money for the total fare, and then had her banned from requesting a 5-star driver again.
“Hello my name is Jonathan from United States Treasury Department and … (background noise/thick Hindi accent)”
Me: I can’t hear you who am I speaking to?
“My name is Jonathan from United States Treasury Department and … (background noise even louder)”
Me: I still can’t hear you who am I speaking to again?
“This is from United States Treasury Department and … (background noise continue)”
You sure don’t sound like you are calling form the Treasury Department, who am I speaking to?
This is from United States Treasury Department and … (background noise going on)"
- and Hangs up.
Yea that’s a scammer, sounds like the same guy that tried it on me, he told me he was from Uber and that I’ve won a 1000 dollar bonus from all the hard work and that the trip was so they can get my attention so I was like hold on I’ll call you back if you really are Uber , he hung up right away and I contacted Uber to verify and it was a scammer
Who the fuck has time to play games like that? I get that call, im hanging up and im waiting that 5 minutes at pickup address collecting my $3.75 (1.25 is for Uber because they also were inconvenienced) and moving on to the next one.