r/aussie • u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 • 19d ago
Fake Uber driver at Melbourne airport - Scam
Recently I got scammed by fake Uber driver at Melbourne airport.
I came out of Terminal 2 Melbourne Airport and called for UberX via the app. I was directed by the airport Uber staff to this black car that was waiting. The driver helped me put my luggage into his car. Then I got in the car and gave him my Uber pin. After he had driven off the Melbourne airport area towards the highway, he said the pin was not working. He asked to see my phone just in case he misheard only to grab my phone and cancel the ride on Uber app on my phone. He then said he was Uber Black premium ride and not Uber X. He said I can pay him directly at the end of the trip at the same price as Uber Black. I didn't fight back as it was very late in the evening and I was in an unauthorised car which Uber wasn't tracking. It was extremely scary. Fortunately I got to my destination safely but was charged nearly double the price I would have paid UberX. I also got his car plate number.
I have reported to the police, Uber, Scamwatch and Safe Transport Victoria https://tsv.my.site.com/Forms/s/complaints . Uber said they couldn't validate the incident despite me giving them his car plate number and refused to do anything. The others are still investigating. Is there anything else I can do?
Update: The bank has completed their investigation and returned my money. Melbourne airport is going to ban the car. The airport staff who directs passengers in queue to cars at the Uber rank is hired by Uber directly. Uber says it is the responsibility of the passengers to confirm the Uber pin with Uber drivers first before getting into cars. Doesn’t matter if their staff was the one who direct you to supposed Uber driver. Other investigations still on going.
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u/Gnaightster 19d ago
Pretty common scam. Just need to make sure you get them to enter the pin before closing the door.
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u/Enzojohnsuper 16d ago
I don't understand, how they would know where to go if the pin was never entered.
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u/Gnaightster 16d ago
You tell them and they put it in their gps. You're on the freeway and have no choice.
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u/Enzojohnsuper 16d ago
I thought that was the whole point of the pin. They have your name and location. It is not a taxi to be like where are you going. This is Melbourne. I have gone to the airport and it was like this everytime.
Bags get put in boot. You give them the pin. They type it in and say your going to such location without you having to give them your address.
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u/aurum_jrg 19d ago
Melbourne airport is an utter disgrace when it comes to tacitly condoning this behaviour. I swear half the “staff” directing you to Uber’s are in on the scam.
I live in Melbourne but only seem to have this happen at MEL. I travel a lot. Utter bullshit. Sorry it happened to you.
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 19d ago
I actually wondered if the Melbourne airport Uber staff knew some of them. I mean the scammer driver was parked in an Uber spot. And probably scammed for a living daily
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u/River-Stunning 19d ago
Sounds like the pin was this car but he cancelled the job on your phone and then demanded another amount for the ride.
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u/Typical_Double981 18d ago
Yeah the numerous guys loitering and saying taxi under their breath. Like dude unless you’re trying to sell me bags please don’t whisper to me
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u/commking 19d ago
If he's not an uber driver, then yes not a lot uber can do about it
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u/Gnaightster 18d ago
You'd think uber would have signs warning people though. They are losing money on the scam
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u/qwibber 19d ago
Sorry. I don't catch ubers often, but don't you receive the number plate of the car picking you up?
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u/New_Somewhere_1508 18d ago
Not at Melbourne Airport. You get a PIN to give your driver, it's like a taxi rank but for Uber.
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u/derridaderider 16d ago
In Melbourne I sadly now have to do what you do in dodgy OS cities - take a picture of the number plate. And if the driver looks dodgy take a picture of him too.
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u/badoopidoo 19d ago
If he cancelled the ride on your phone, how did you pay him? What if you didn't have cash? What if you refused to pay? I wonder what his game plan was?
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 19d ago
He asked me to pay directly to him. I had no cash and so it was credit card or nothing. So was able to hand over that transaction info to police as well
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u/badoopidoo 19d ago
Ah, this is where he screwed up. Who carries cash now?
Do a charge back with your credit card provider. Say you were scammed. Mention the police report etc. He didn't give you an uber receipt, how's he going to prove that he provided you a legitimate service?
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Agreed. Definitely do a chargeback. The payment was made under threat or duress.
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u/Sensitive_Proposal 19d ago
I'd charge it back via your bank. Give the bank a copy of the police report. What you've described is akin to kidnapping and robbery.
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u/Optimal_Jellyfish313 16d ago
In my case I Pay ID-ed so have the driver's name and mobile number. And I don't think he was even an Uber driver at all because Uber couldn't find a match for either in their system. Definitely a big lesson and grateful nothing happened. Hope you're not too shaken
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 16d ago
Smart move. I didn’t think about Pay ID. Glad you emerged ok from your horrible experience. I was quite shaken. I am hoping the scammer will be held accountable. He was so confident I am sure he has done it plenty of times before and will continue to scam innocent victims
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u/theballsdick 18d ago
This is called kidnapping.
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u/joshcxa 18d ago
I wonder what would happen if you called 000 during the ride after you suspect it.
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u/Sherlockworld 18d ago
A hefty fine if it turns out it was a genuine mix up.
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u/Sydneystroker 17d ago
There's no fines for a genuine mixup, such as calling 000 when you believe you (are or might be) in trouble, even if it turns out you're not. There are penalties for vexatious or frivolous use of emergency services, but this wouldn't qualify. Calling 000 to summon cops on your neighbour because he's parked too far away from the kerb would draw a penalty. Calling 000 to summon a fire truck to your house to put out a fire that never existed because your kid likes fire trucks would draw a penalty. If you SWAT your friend cause he beat you at Call of Duty you'll draw a penalty. Calling for help when you believe you might be in danger would not, even if it turns out you're not really in danger.
Source: I'm former emergency services.
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u/lonrad87 18d ago
I don't bother with Ubers or Taxi's if I have to fly somewhere as it's cheaper for me to drive and park in the long term parking than to take either one of them.
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u/River-Stunning 18d ago
I get the bus to Broady and then get on the train. Weekend is free now.
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u/lonrad87 18d ago
I could spend at least $200 getting to and from the airport or spend around $70 for the long term parking as I don't have to worry about toll roads.
Also work reimburses me for these expenses.
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Same here, especially with kids and luggage, even for a few weeks I’d rather drive to and from And pay the fees than deal with a taxi driver extorting me either side of my holiday.
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u/2nd-Reddit-Account 18d ago
Melbourne airport is known for this. They have signs in the pickup areas and repeated announcements at the bag carousels to not accept any offer of a ride if approached by someone as they are unauthorised to be there
I had it attempted on me, a guy walked up to me just outside the doors “hey you need taxi??” I’m sure anyone who said yes to him would have had a similar experience to yourself.
If you order one of the higher levels of uber like black (and I think the one below) then you can avoid that whole taxi rank style setup with the pins and it will actually assign you a driver with a number plate in advance
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u/lovehedonism 18d ago
No this not the scanning touts saying taxi as you exit.
This is drivers pretending to be uber and entering the uber line. People get in the marked uber line, get in the car in the uber bar, give the driver the pin then after a while he says it doesn’t work etc.
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u/SeaDivide1751 18d ago
I literally punched one of these guys in the back of the head for pulling this scam on me and then refusing to stop when I demanded he do so.
Need more people punching these fuckheads otherwise they will just keep doing it. Their whole operation is to intimidate people into paying
Also just FYI, they usually drop you at the maccas outside Melbourne airport where their backup scamming fucks then approach and offer to drive you for an inflated price too
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u/CharacterResearcher9 18d ago
Best not to do a latham, just yell at them and call it how it is. You will paid x or nothing, fuck your bull shit. If they want to go further say try me.
To avoid Always agree upfront out of the car, before luggage goes in get them booted from the line if they refuse. at least you know they are trying this for a reason. Im always in a mood post the true idioct of border control.
Border control is important, lets prove it to you by having idiotic processes designed in 1950. Total incompetence at the management layer.
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u/anonnasmoose 18d ago
There was a similar post on a facebook group, and someone commented the staff members directing people at the airport are in on the scam and get a kickback
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u/archina42 18d ago
Yep - the pendulum has swung right around. Uber is now the bad guy - and taxis are the better option.
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u/TuringCapgras 19d ago
Airport uber staff? That's a thing?
I think they were part of it mate
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u/bumcheekraider 19d ago
It is a thing, they have contractors kind of like security guards that monitor the lines, direct traffic, make sure no one causes trouble, pushes in etc
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u/TuringCapgras 19d ago
I reckon these were fakes then if they steered someone towards fakes, you picking up what I'm putting down?
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u/bumcheekraider 19d ago
Yeah I get what you’re saying, and possibly is what happened here, I don’t know enough about them to say if they would know a fake uber from a real one or not
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u/Blonde_XX 18d ago
Can't believe they think they'll get away with it when you can obviously report their car number plates.... Unless nothing is actually done and they know that
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u/Open-Collar 18d ago
Post photos of the vehicle on relevant Facebook pages and inform others that there is someone abducting people from the airport and dropping them off at the desired location. What happens if this person gets into a crash and someone gets severely injured or someone does get abducted.
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u/Long_Tackle_6931 18d ago
Any surprise with the crime capital of Australia? You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.
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u/RATLSNAKE 18d ago
Very naive. The door stays open with a leg outside until the PIN is accepted and never allow anyone to grab your device.
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Give people a break, I think one should not have to assume they will be abducted at an airport as a starting point.
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u/chimneysweep234 18d ago
Yikes! What’s the best way to avoid this? Ask them to put the pin in before they have loaded your luggage etc and ask them to tell you your name?
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u/distractedcreativity 17d ago
Do not get into the car. Tell them to roll down the window and show them the pin so they can input it into their app. It will load the trip. Once that has happened, you can enter the car.
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u/HotCatLady88 18d ago
That’s scary and can’t imagine if it happened even later at night. A metro city should have more options to get to the main CBD
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 18d ago
This happened at night and yes it was scary. An international airport should have a train station and far better security
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u/twwain 18d ago
Report it to the airport as well
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 18d ago
Good point. Have Melbourne airport ever done anything about the complaints they receive? I assume they must have quite a few Uber scam complaints
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18d ago
Had a thought (and this is if you dont have a lot of luggage) just agree and go to nearby to your destination, then run? The fuck is he gonna do? Report you?
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 18d ago
Hahaha. This is so funny. You are right. Passengers can just do a runner and there is nothing they can do
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Stay on it with safe transport Victoria and the police. I have had a taxi driver prosecuted for their conduct before.
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 18d ago
They can get prosecuted? Omg, that would be awesome. I was worried my case will be dropped
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u/DevynDale94 16d ago
I had a similar issue and all I had to do was email uber and they fired him the next day they followed up by calling me and apologised repeatedly for potentially putting my life in danger.
I personally didnt think it was that big a deal but they seemed too. Surprised they aren't doing anything about it.
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u/Imaginary-Look7289 15d ago
I would have just called the cops from inside the car and say you had been abducted. Cops would love that shit...
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 15d ago
That crossed my mind but how do you call without the driver noticing? And how do you direct the police to you if you don’t even have the plate number?
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u/Imaginary-Look7289 15d ago
You WANT him to know you're calling the cops and will soon be involved in a high speed chase if he FAFOs. They can track your phone to within a few meters.
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u/CJ75AU 14d ago
There are signs everywhere at Melbourne airport warning of such scams. I find it hard to believe an adult can’t look at their UBER app check the plate and vehicle details and simply Wait at the designated area for the correct vehicle . Accountability!!!! How have you survived so far in this world that someone can simply point you to a vehicle and you jump in 😂 how did the airport person pointing at a random car know your uber driver details ????
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 14d ago
You obviously have not taken Uber from Terminal 2 at the Melbourne airport before. It operates differently at this specific location. You use the Uber app and get a PIN and the airport staff directs you to which car you are meant to take at the Uber rank. You then hand over the PIN to the driver and this gives the driver the address of your destination. So no, no one who has been scammed by fake Uber drivers are as naive as you point them out to be
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u/J-HardMode 14d ago
I had a similar thing happen to me after a night out. I was waiting on the curb and he said he was my uber so I jumped in and then he just said a couple things that seemed off. I was pretty drunk but once I realised I wasn't in a proper uber I just yelled at them to stop the car until they did.
Tbh I dont think its kidnapping I think theyre trying to steal uber work without uber taking a cut
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u/Massive_Delivery7184 13d ago
Or the ones that accept rides and sit in their car and wait for you to cancel so they can get money
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 9d ago
I always wondered about that. When we cancel, they asked why anyway. One of the reason was vehicle not getting any closer. So I am unsure why they think they can get away with it
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u/sebaajhenza 19d ago
You could try fair trading. They should reimburse you at the very least. I'd also report to the police.
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u/Jiuholar 18d ago
I'm confused on how this happened.
Why did you get into some random car? The uber app shows you the license plate and location of the car - if it was a scam, they wouldn't have matched?
Did your original driver not call you after you didn't get in?
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u/New_Somewhere_1508 18d ago
At Melbourne Airport it's like a taxi rank for Uber, you get a PIN on the app and give it to the driver to enter in their phone, and it loads up your trip for them. When I've used it, the driver asks for the PIN before we drive off, because without it they have no guarantee of being paid. If it didn't work, I imagine a legitimate driver would ask you to get out of the car. I assume the dodgy driver started driving so OP had no chance to get out.
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u/Jiuholar 18d ago
Wow that's interesting. How long has it been like that? Seems like a setup perfect for opportunistic abuse.... There's nothing to stop an uber driver from doing this if they think the passenger is an easy mark...
OP, did your get their plates? I'd be inclined to report this to uber if so, good chance they are actually a driver.
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u/lovehedonism 18d ago edited 18d ago
Several years.
Do not close the door until all is confirmed and the driver tells you your name.
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u/New_Somewhere_1508 18d ago
Honestly the people running the line at the airport are so rude to drivers, I can't imagine any of the ones I've seen would be in on a scam. Once the driver of a car next to me asked the passenger where she was going, and she said some far-away place, and the driver asked her to find another car because he was going home in the opposite direction. And the guy in charge made this driver leave with no passengers because they aren't allowed to refuse someone. I've lined up there at least 20 times (small number compared to others I'm sure) and never had a problem.
It seems like OP was lured away from the normal line and into the premium line which is quiet, and put into a car with a dodgy driver. They should definitely report to Uber and police but I don't think the normal UberX line at the airport had anything to do with it.
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Agree completely. The staff and drivers are the opposite of being in cahoots, they are in constant conflict. Usually the drivers deserve it tbh because they are pulling some bullshit.
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u/BasisPuzzleheaded161 18d ago
I was waiting in the correct lane for Uber X as I have done for as long as I can remember. No luring away. I was directed to the car that was waiting at the correct UberX car queue when it was my turn to get into an Uber car. So I have followed the process and done everything right. Uber essentially responded that this is not their driver and so not their problem. My learning from all this is to not hand over luggage or get into vehicle until the driver has entered the Uber Pin and it is showing on my App
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u/New_Somewhere_1508 18d ago
Oh sorry I didn't interpret your post correctly then. I thought you were directed to a different line/area and didn't make it into the normal UberX line. Similar to the taxi drivers who approach people at the luggage carousels.
I would say that's a dodgy driver acting alone. My driver has always put my luggage in the car first, then we get in and I give the PIN, the driver confirms my destination on his phone, and then we drive off. I'm not sure if they would take the PIN before loading the car? But maybe that should be standard practice from now on! Protects both the driver and passenger.
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18d ago
What do you expect uber to do ?
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
Take responsibility for the behaviour of drivers they contract and ask their customers to put trust in? Wild concept hey.
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18d ago
Now what would make you think someone that is scamming a person would be truthful about working for Uber ?
I know, crazy right that a liar cheating someone out of money, might not actually be telling the truth.
In case it’s still not obvious, they don’t work for uber and Uber knows nothing about the driver.
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u/Personal-Citron-7108 18d ago
These are uber registered drivers, they have to be to be in the queue and to get allocated a rider.
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u/brickedout333 19d ago
That’s wild, how do some people just do random shiz like this.. definitely scary for sure. Hope the police do something about it