The latest complaint Uber users have is quite unusual in nature: After a ride request is accepted, some passengers in China have been greeted with the profile of a “ghost driver” en route to pick them up. According to The Guardian, the spooky images are part of a new scheme used by drivers in China to score cancellation fees.
Drivers taking part in the deception will upload a picture manipulated to look like a ghost, zombie, or vampire to an otherwise normal profile. The intention is to frighten passengers into canceling their ride for a small fee the drivers then get to keep. Each cancellation amounts to4.20 yuan, or about $.60.
That’s small enough that many would-be passengers won’t bother reporting the incident: Meanwhile, ghost drivers can spend the day scaring away customers and watch the fees add up.
When brave passengers do decide to wait around for the ride, some ghost drivers will take the scam even further and accept a rider on the app as if they’ve entered the car without picking them up.
The stood-up customer will eventually cancel and the driver still gets the fee.
The interesting story of China’s ghost Uber drivers: users scared = they cancel, driver gets cancel fee. https://t.co/fmESwT9PWa pic.twitter.com/3GyTpGOnUe
— Martyn Kelly (@martynkelly) September 21, 2016
#Uberweird#Uber #China driver scams: Ghost drivers freaking out passengers and scamming Uber for money — Quartz https://t.co/LTWloXzuba pic.twitter.com/P9V1gnf0kz
— Dave Aron (@davearon) September 22, 2016
where do u think this ghost Uber driver would take u https://t.co/OZfpP0XDki pic.twitter.com/0dL31OZ7uU
— Mary Childs (@mdc) September 22, 2016
