The 'scary' Uber scam you need to watch out for

A Melbourne woman ordered an Uber home after a night out, but soon realised something wasn't right.

Joel Erickson

2 min read

September 17, 2024 - 11:18AM

Woman left terrified after falling into an Uber scam – here's her warning

Family Life

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An Aussie woman has issued a stern warning after she fell victim to a “scary” Uber scam.

Gemma Dimond took to TikTok to claim her Uber driver had “cancelled” her trip before requesting she pay him directly.

The young woman, who was travelling alone at the time, urged others to “please be safe” when using the rideshare app, saying it was “a bit scary” in the moment.

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Yahoo News reports Gemma had ordered a ride after a night out in Melbourne, and jumped into her Uber after making sure to “check the number plate” to confirm the vehicle.

Gemma Dimond said the driver cancelled her trip before blaming it on a 'glitch'. Picture: TikTok

"He had a separate app to calculate the price"

However, shortly after the ride started, the driver allegedly “cancelled the trip”, blaming a supposed glitch in the Uber app.

"He was like, 'Oh, looks like the app is glitching. Can you just give me your address and I'll put it into our maps and I'll work out how much it would have been',” Gemma claimed.

“He had a separate app to calculate the price.”

Gemma claims the driver asked her to pay him directly via bank transfer, but instead she “told a fib” to make him pull over so she could jump out of the car.

She then waited for an “actual cab” to continue her trip.

Unfortunately, Gemma isn't the only woman to report potentially dangerous Uber experiences. Picture: iStock

"Clear breach of Uber's Community Guidelines"

Unfortunately, it’s not the first time a similar scam has been reported in Australia.

Yahoo News reports another woman reported a similar situation when she booked a rideshare driver from Melbourne Airport.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson said any fraudulent activity was a “clear breach of Uber’s Community Guidelines”.

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"Fraudulent activity, such as driver-partners encouraging riders to pay directly in exchange for a trip, is a clear breach of Uber’s Community Guidelines,” they said.

"This kind of behaviour can result in driver-partners permanently losing access to the app.

"We encourage riders to report behaviour such as this through the app, so we can take action right away."

Many users complained of 'dodgy' Ubers at Melbourne Airport. Picture: AAP

"The amount of unsafe Ubers recently is insane"

Other TikTok users also reported their own weird experiences with Uber drivers in Melbourne.

"This happened to me a few months ago when I was in an Uber from Melbourne airport. I didn’t realise what was going on and he made me transfer him at the end of the trip," one said.

“The amount of unsafe Ubers I’ve had recently is insane,” another person wrote. “I’ve gone back to strictly using taxis.”