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  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 15, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Uber   

    Uber driver killed during scam 

    By Greg Collier

    In the Columbus, Ohio, vicinity, a recent scam turned deadly for one victim, while another is now behind bars. Meanwhile, the perpetrators remain at large.

    The incident began with what appeared to be a grandparent scam. A group of scammers targeted an 81-year-old man, claiming that a relative was in jail and in need of bail money. Simultaneously, they arranged for an Uber to collect the demanded funds from the man’s residence.

    Utilizing Uber drivers as unwitting accomplices is not a novel strategy among scammers. On multiple occasions, we’ve witnessed rideshare drivers unknowingly entangled in such schemes. When this trend initially emerged, there were warnings of potentially dire consequences for rideshare drivers. Tragically, those warnings seem to have materialized.

    Upon the 61-year-old woman, who served as the Uber driver, arriving at the man’s home, she inquired about a package she was supposed to retrieve. Allegedly, the man suspected her involvement in the scam and initially held her at gunpoint.

    Reportedly, the man confiscated the Uber driver’s phone while demanding information about the scammers. When the driver attempted to depart in her vehicle, the man opened fire, resulting in her being shot. A struggle ensued, during which the man fired two more shots at the driver. It wasn’t until after the shooting ceased that the man decided to contact 911.

    Subsequently, the man faces murder charges, with dashcam footage revealing that the driver posed no immediate threat.

    If you receive a call from scammers demanding money, it’s crucial not to handle the situation yourself. Instead, promptly contact the police. They possess the expertise and training to manage these situations more effectively.

    This tragic event serves as a stark reminder of the dangers inherent in scams and the unforeseen consequences they can unleash. It underscores the need for vigilance and caution, not only among potential victims but also within our communities as a whole. As we mourn the loss of life and contemplate the implications of this heartbreaking incident, let us also strive to raise awareness and foster a sense of solidarity in combating such criminal endeavors.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 9, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , Uber,   

    Rideshare drivers are being scammed out of their earnings again 

    By Greg Collier

    A new report has just come out that states rideshare drivers for services like Lyft and Uber are being targeted in scams, again. Anything connected to the internet is vulnerable to one scam or another, and that seems to be affecting rideshare drivers as well. Except this time, as the cliché goes, the calls seem to be coming from inside the house.

    The drivers are being locked out of their Uber or Lyft accounts by scammers. The scammers pose as Uber or Lyft themselves. The drivers typically receive a call from the scammers posing as whichever service they drive for. The scammers will tell the drivers there is something wrong with their account, or their account has been suspended after a customer complaint.

    After a moment, the scammers will tell the drivers that they need to verify the driver’s identification. A code will be sent to the driver through text message, and they’ll be asked to repeat that code to the caller. This code is actually the code to reset the driver’s password to their account. Once the scammer gets a hold of that code, they can change the password on the account, locking the driver out.

    From there, the scammers change where the driver’s payment is supposed to go to the scammers bank account. Then the driver’s account is drained of all the driver’s current earnings. This scam can cost a driver hundreds of dollars.

    The new report about this scam sheds some more light on it since the last time we posted about this. One driver from Portland who fell victim to this scam said the caller talked like they worked in the industry. He said they knew all the company jargon and completely fooled him into handing over his account.

    Lyft has told the media they will never call a driver asking for personal information unless the driver reaches out first.

    Again, you may not be a rideshare driver, but you could hold any another position in the gig economy, which is also vulnerable to this scam.

    If you happen to receive such a phone call, politely inform the caller that you will return their call and take the initiative to verify the situation directly through the platform. Nearly all gig economy applications should offer a feedback or contact option within the app or website, allowing you to reach out to the company for clarification.

     

  • Geebo 9:01 am on February 28, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Uber   

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams 

    Rideshare drivers used in multi-state scams

    By Greg Collier

    It wasn’t too long ago when we wondered if scammers were putting rideshare drivers in danger. That’s because scammers are using rideshare drivers as unwitting couriers or chauffeurs. In most instances, the scammers will use rideshares like Uber and Lyft to collect packages of cash from their victims. In other instances, scammers have sent rideshares to their victims’ homes, so the victim can be taken to the bank to get more money for the scammers. This has led to confusion on the part of police, where they don’t know whether the rideshare driver is involved in the scam or not. While no driver that we know of has been injured by police, it can only take one wrong move for the situation to escalate in violence.

    More recently, we’ve learned that not only are the scammers using rideshare drivers as couriers, but the drivers are being asked to drive across state lines to deliver stolen cash. In Western, Pennsylvania, an elderly woman lost $25,000 in a grandparent scam. Believing her grandson was in legal trouble, she gave a package with the money inside to a rideshare driver that the scammers had called for her.

    As can be usual with scammers, once they took money from the victim once, they tried to get more. When the new driver showed up to collect the package, he told the grandmother that his destination was somewhere in New Jersey. If you’re not familiar with the geography of the Northeast, that’s roughly a 12-hour round trip, depending on where in New Jersey the driver was headed. Let’s say that the driver was going from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City. Not only is that a 12-hour or more round trip depending on traffic, but it’s also a $1000 trip. The scammers can afford it since they’re getting thousands of dollars from their victims.

    In case you were wondering, like we were, rideshare drivers get around 25% of the fare. So, a trip from Pittsburgh to Atlantic City would be a thousand dollars, but the driver would have to drive for 12 hours. That comes out to $250 for the driver, which is around $21/hr. This does not take gas and tolls that the driver would need to pay out of their own pocket. We’d love to hear from rideshare drivers if this would be a fare they would be interested in taking. Is it worth the money?

    Thankfully, the second driver was stopped by police after the grandmother realized she had been scammed. State Troopers escorted the driver to New Jersey, where they arrested two men alleged to be behind the scam.

    While both Lyft and Uber both have parcel delivery services, we would suggest that both companies need to educate their drivers on how to be on the lookout for scams and illegal activity. Maybe have their drivers go through a checklist with the sender about various scams, such as the grandparent scam. Such a small step could go a long way in helping prevent scam victims from losing their money.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on February 17, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Uber   

    Are scammers putting rideshare drivers in danger? 

    By Greg Collier

    More and more scammers are using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft to be unwitting participants in their scams. This is largely seen with the grandparent scam, where the scammers use the rideshare services as couriers when collecting the money from their victims. To be clear, the rideshare drivers are almost always never aware that they’re being used in such a scam. However, a recent scam where a rideshare was involved made us realize what kind of danger scammers are putting the drivers in.

    The grandparent scam is a common scam that targets older individuals by preying on their emotions. Scammers will call and pretend to be a grandchild or another family member who is in trouble and needs money urgently. They may claim to be in jail, stuck in a foreign country, or in some other kind of distress. The scammer will ask the grandparent to send money via wire transfer, gift cards, or other untraceable methods, and will often urge the grandparent not to tell anyone else in the family.

    A grandmother from the Boston area almost fell victim to the scam but was still placed in a dangerous situation. While at the bank withdrawing $9000 to send to the scammers, a bank teller became suspicious, and was able to prevent the grandmother from losing any money. However, the grandmother was driven to the bank by a white van and the van didn’t stick around as the grandmother was in the bank.

    Initially, police believed the driver of the van had some kind of involvement in the scam. The driver was described as an older man. It was later determined by police that the man worked for a rideshare service, but was hired by the scammers. While no report we read said how police approached the man, if the driver was stopped on the street and made one inadvertent false move, this story could have had a much more tragic ending. Then the scammers would have been responsible for a much more heinous crime while potentially avoiding prosecution.

    We don’t know if rideshare drivers are educated to be on the lookout for potential scam victims, but they should be. Whether picking up a passenger or delivering a suspicious parcel, maybe drivers should start asking questions. We would think that a grandmother getting a ride to their bank might be a red flag.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 25, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Uber   

    What role do rideshares play in the grandparent scam? 

    By Greg Collier

    When we first started seeing reports of the grandparent scam, the scammers would have their victims make payments through methods like sending cash in the mail, or gift cards. When people started catching on to the scam, the scammers themselves would pose as couriers to pick up the money themselves. In a risky move, the scammers would go to the victims’ homes to pick up the money. This has resulted in multiple arrests of scammers. This has caused scammers to adjust their methods once again to start using unwitting participants in their scam, rideshare drivers.

    As always, for first time readers, we like to educate them about what the scam entails. The grandparent scam is a pretty malevolent scam. The scammers mostly target the elderly with this scam, hence the name. They’ll call their elderly victims on the phone and pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren, a police officer, or an attorney. The victim will be told their grandchild is in some kind of legal trouble, usually a car accident, and they need money for bail. The scammers will also tell their victims they can’t tell anyone else in the family, either out of embarrassment or threat of legal action. Victims of the grandparent scam typically lose thousands of dollars to the scammers.

    But getting back to the topic at hand, grandparent scammers have increased their use of rideshare drivers as couriers. Recently, in Southern Florida, police in Port St. Lucie have encountered a number of victims of the scam who have lost a total of almost $100,000. In each case, an Uber was sent to their home to pick up the money.

    To be clear, the Uber drivers had no idea what they were delivering. Outside of rideshares, Uber also offers a same day local parcel delivery service. Unfortunately, the drivers weren’t delivering the victim’s money to a residence or business. Instead, they were delivered to someone standing on a street corner in Fort Lauderdale. So far, no arrests have been made.

    So, does Uber bear any responsibility in these scams? That’s debatable, it seems. It does seem a little sketchy that they would deliver a package to someone on the streets. A service like that could be used for all manner of illegal activity. That could put the drivers in more danger as well. Ultimately, Uber isn’t in the business of looking out for scammers, which leaves it up to prospective victims to protect themselves.

    To avoid falling victim to the grandparent scam, it’s important to be skeptical of unexpected phone calls or emails from people claiming to be a grandchild in distress. Don’t give out personal information or money without verifying the identity of the caller. If you are unsure if the person is truly a grandchild, ask them questions that only your real grandchild would know the answer to. Additionally, consider setting up a code word with your grandchildren to confirm their identity before providing any information or assistance. Lastly, if you do receive a suspicious call or email, please report it to the appropriate authorities.

    Related Video: Police in Port St. Lucie warn of ‘Grandparent Scam’

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 9, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , Uber   

    Uber driver loses week’s wages in scam 

    By Greg Collier

    The scam we’re about to talk about today exclusively targets rideshare drivers. Even though the majority of our readers probably aren’t rideshare drivers, we think this story can be useful to our other readers as well. Not only does it show how gig economy workers can be vulnerable to scams, we also think it’s a commentary on how some gig economy companies treat their workers.

    The victim in today’s story is an Uber driver from Salt Lake City. He loves his work and seems to be very successful at it. Rather than driving as a means to make extra money, the driver dos it full-time and is able to make a comfortable living. As an aside, that’s the exception rather than the rule, but that’s neither here nor there for right now.

    Last week, the man received a call from someone claiming to be from Uber. The caller said that the driver had received a complaint and needed to issue a refund. He was instructed to log into the Uber app and given directions on how to issue the supposed refund. What actually happened is that scammers were directing him to issue $1200 directly to the scammers. This wiped out a week’s worth of wages for the driver. Our story doesn’t end there, however.

    The driver reached out to Uber for assistance, who said they investigated the matter, but the man wasn’t due for a refund. It wasn’t until the driver reached out to his local media before Uber issued him a refund.

    Our earning to not only rideshare drivers but other gig economy workers, if you receive a phone call from the company you’re working for about your earnings, contact them through official channels before issuing any supposed refunds. You may also want to research how refunds are actually handled beforehand, so you know what’s a scam and what isn’t.

    However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out how similarly Uber acted like the banks that have had customers scammed through Zelle. Just like in the Zelle scams, Uber didn’t act in the worker’s interest until it became a potential PR issue.

    Learn your rights before joining a gig economy company. In the majority of these companies, you’re not an employee, but rather an outside contractor. These independent contractors do not receive nearly the same protections as an actual employee.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , Uber, ,   

    It’s time for vacation scam season again 

    By Greg Collier

    Memorial Day weekend often indicates the unofficial start of the Summer season. With that, many couples and families will be planning their Summer getaways. But the one thing we may not get away from are vacation scams. While some vacation scams may be minor, there are others that could have devastating effects that could end your vacation before it even begins.

    One of the more common and expensive scams is the Summer rental scam. Many properties listed online for Summer rental are often either misrepresented or non-existent. Just like in a regular rental scam, a scammer may have copied a listing from a legitimate realtor and posted it on places like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace as if they own the property. At least in a local rental scam, a potential renter can swing by the property to look for any inconsistencies. It’s almost impossible to do that with a vacation rental, since the property is usually a large distance away. Even with vacation rentals, you should do a web search of the address to make sure the property is actually being rented and who is actually renting it.

    If you’re planning in using a short-term rental service like Airbnb or VRBO, there have been issues in the past where hosts have grossly misrepresented their properties in order to get as many renters as possible. This has included properties in states of disrepair, rooms that looked more like jail cells than a living space, and switching properties on renters altogether.

    Another common scam is the front desk scam. This is where scammers will call your hotel room in the middle of the night, posing as the front desk. The scammers will claim that there is a problem with your payment information and will ask you to verify the information. You should never give this information out over the phone. If there is an actual issue with the front desk, walk down to their office to verify any problems.

    A new scam we’re hearing about is phony rideshare drivers. They’ll claim they work for Uber or Lyft and just had a fare cancel on them. More than likely, they’ll claim there is an outage preventing them from using the service’s app for payment.

    Lastly, when at all possible, book your vacation and plan your expenses by using a credit card. Credit cards offer more protection than debit cards if you happen to fall victim to a scam. While once cash is lost, it’s lost forever.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 26, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , Uber   

    Can Uber and Lyft survive strike? 

    Can Uber and Lyft survive strike?

    It appears that the gig economy is about to face a major milestone in its relatively short history. While some cities and taxi unions have opposed the invasion of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft, now it’s the ridesharing drivers themselves that are fighting back against the companies. On May 8th, Uber is set to issue its IPO. Some estimates put Uber’s valuation at between $80 billion and $90 billion. Meanwhile, many of their drivers earn less than minimum wage and plan to do something about it.

    On the same day that Uber goes public many Lyft and Uber drivers plan to go on strike for 24 hours in eight cities. Those cities are Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. These are all major cities that depend a lot on not only public transportation but also ridesharing services. Even just for one day, the strike has the potential to put a very inconvenient dent in a lot of people’s commute. This could get a lot of support for Uber and Lyft drivers.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wA87SgZGOc%5D

    The drivers are demanding…

    • higher wages
    • clearer policies on wages, tips, how fares are shared and disciplinary action
    • employee benefits such as health care, disability payments and holiday pay
    • recognition and representation for drivers in Uber’s management structure

    It will be interesting to see how Uber and Lyft react not only to the announcement of the strike but the strike itself. One of the problems with the current economy is that employees in most industries have fewer protections than there have been in the past. This makes the gig economy attractive to many looking to supplement their current income. That means that there are scores of people looking to replace the striking Uber and Lyft drivers if those companies decide to retaliate. While it would be a major PR disaster for those companies, they’ve become such a convenience that it may blow over.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 15, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , Uber   

    Craigslist to start charging $5 for cars, Kids in Ubers and Lyfts, and no trafficking in Robert Kraft case 

    Craigslist to start charging $5 for cars, Kids in Ubers and Lyfts, and no trafficking in Robert Kraft case

    What a $5 car may look like

    As of today, craigslist will start charging $5 for car listings. So as of tax day if you’re selling your car on craigslist it will cost you a fiver. While craigslist has not publicly stated the reason for the change, many speculate that the move will cut down on scam listings. It will be interesting to see if craigslist users will balk at the new fee and if scammers will be willing to pay the fee. Not to mention that it’s almost ironic that craigslist is now starting to act like so many newspaper classifieds that they helped close down.

    ***

    KATU in Portland, Oregon is reporting on a new safety concern when it comes to using ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber. Their investigation found that many minors are using the ridesharing services even though their terms of service require a passenger to be at least 18. Some drivers will refuse the fare if they know the passenger is under 18, however, there are many drivers who either don’t know the rules or don’t care. According to KATU, some parents are even ok with their older kids using an Uber or Lyft. If you’re a parent, would you be ok with letting your kid use an Uber or Lyft alone?

    ***

    Lastly for today, it was recently reported that the investigation that allegedly caught New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft using a massage parlor did not find any evidence of human trafficking. Critics have dismissed this investigation as a witch hunt of sorts and that police were just looking to arrest workers and johns. However, in many cases, those being trafficked are unwilling to testify against their traffickers due to fears of reprisal or threats of violence against their families. To refer to human trafficking as an overblown problem is to dismiss the safety and welfare of all those being trafficked against their will who are treated as slaves.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 5, 2019 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , Samantha Josephson, Uber   

    Ridesharing safety at the forefront after murder of college student 

    Ride sharing safety at the forefront after murder of college student

    The safety of ridesharing users, especially women, has been a topic of concern lately after a University of South Carolina student was murdered by a man allegedly posing as her Uber driver. Last weekend 21-year-old Samantha Josephson got into a car that she thought was her Uber. Instead, the man who picked her up had no affiliation with Uber and is accused of stabbing her to death and leaving her body in a wooded area. While the tragedy that befell Ms. Josephson may be the most high-profile incident of assailants posing as Uber drivers it is unfortunately far from the first.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmpkMXcSOJ4%5D

    The New York Times has collected a number of incidents that happened to female passengers who thought they were getting into Ubers or Lyfts before being assaulted by the driver. In some instances, their attackers had the sticker in their car windows in order to make it appear as if the attacker was a legitimate driver. These phony rideshare drivers tend to lurk around places where most rideshare services are requested such as bars and hotels. At one point in 2017, Uber even had to issue a statement warning customers about people posing as their drivers.

    If you’ve never used one of these services before you download the app of whichever service you want to use. The service requires you to upload a picture of yourself so the driver can recognize you and also for their safety. Conversely, the passenger will receive a profile of their driver that includes their name, what make and model of car they’re driving, their picture, and their license plate number. When your service arrives, make sure the driver tells you who they’re supposed to pick up and if they don’t know your name that’s a red flag not to get into the car. It’s also recommended that you message someone trusted that you’re about to get into an Uber or Lyft. Above all else, if you ever feel unsafe for any reason ask your driver to stop and if they won’t don’t hesitate to call 911.

     

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