A Bengaluru Reddit user, who goes by the username ‘Whyshnahwe’, took to the platform to share how she foiled an Ola driver’s attempt to scam her with a fake fare ‘in one ninja move’.
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The woman shared that she booked a cab from 3rd Phase, JP Nagar to Wilson Garden in Bengaluru. When the “uneventful” trip ended, the driver took out his phone from the holder and said, “Madam, the amount is 749”, and showed the woman his phone.
Since the estimated fare on the app was ₹254, the woman was surprised when the driver asked for a higher amount. He then acted “shocked” and suggested that the difference could be due to Ola money dues. He asked her to pay the amount and complain about the difference on the app later.
The woman suspected that something was not right, and asked the driver for his phone. That’s when she realised it was all a scam.
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“I asked him to show me the amount. He gave me the phone. Something was off with the way it looked. I noticed the Ola app still running in the background (you know, the little circle logo on the side of the screen). I confirmed that this was not the actual amount and that he was showing me some random screenshot,” the woman said in the Reddit post.
{{/usCountry}}“I asked him to show me the amount. He gave me the phone. Something was off with the way it looked. I noticed the Ola app still running in the background (you know, the little circle logo on the side of the screen). I confirmed that this was not the actual amount and that he was showing me some random screenshot,” the woman said in the Reddit post.
{{/usCountry}}She added that he hadn’t ended the trip on the app. “I just tapped the logo, and the app opened. I saw that he hadn’t ended the trip yet. I acted naive and asked him about that. Quickly he took the phone back and said he had ended it already. I asked if I could see it again. He didn’t hand over the phone this time, but just showed me the phone.”
The woman then swiped the red “End Trip” bar on the bottom of the app and asked him, “Isn’t this how you end it, sir?”
Reddit user then said that the man was “embarrassed” and didn’t say a word. She then paid him the actual fare and left.
Take a look at the entire Reddit post here:
Many reacted to this Reddit post and left their thoughts in the comments section. An individual wrote, “Imagine if someone was in a hurry, they would just pay and get going, but the woman did a good job here.”
Another said, “This is why I prefer Uber over Ola. The app tells me how much I need to pay to the driver in the end and lets me share my trip.”
“The scams are evolving. Good that you didn’t fall for it, and thanks for sharing it. I am impressed with the drivers’ skills to come up with these scams,” commented a third.
A fourth shared, “I fell for it yesterday. The driver showed me his bill was 1946, but my Uber receipt was showing 678. I had to pay him since he was making a scene, and I had my sick parent with me.”