Rideshare driver accused of attempted scam, sparks warning to others
Footage of a heated confrontation between a Melbourne man and a rideshare driver has gone viral over claims the driver was trying to take payment directly from the passenger and cut the company out.
In the video posted to TikTok, the customer can be heard saying “but you are being paid for it, it is being paid,” as he stands by the side of the vehicle.
Through the front window, the driver replies, “it is not paid.. I’m not sure that you do not cancel it on the way.”
The irate client proceeds to argue his point saying the rideshare driver has an obligation to take him to his destination.
“I’m not going to cancel half way, I want to go swim with my mates at that beach," he says.
The driver tries to interject but the man won’t have it. “No bro, you know what you’re doing,” he says. “Look you’ve got the EFTPOS machine in the car," he alleges.
“No, I haven’t,” the motorist responds while the camera attempts to zoom in on the alleged device before the driver takes off.
“Gotcha,” the customer says after the driver heads off. “Full scammer Uber driver bro, I mean good on him trying to get the one up.”
Uber says Melbourne incident was not their driver
An Uber spokesperson told Yahoo News the incident was not reported to them by the customer, and after a full investigation concluded it was not one of their drivers and he may have been linked to another rideshare operator. Uber advised people to report any suspected fraudulent activity including a driver attempting to solicit cash.
The video, which has since racked up more than 295,000 viewers, had many questioning what was going on in the 50-second clip.
“[The] driver gives you a dumb reason you need to pre-pay and hands you the eftpos machine so once [the] lift is complete, he ends up getting paid twice,” one person explained.
“Def a scam, it’s like he’s getting money twice,” commented someone else. “Man that’s barely a scam, that’s just straight up asking for money, who would fall for this?” said another.
Others praised the customer for standing his ground.
“Good on you for challenging him, he took off real fast,” one person wrote.
“Good on you for staying calm and civil,” said another.
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