Bengaluru auto driver poses as Uber, forces elderly passenger to pay extra: ‘This was deliberate impersonation’

An elderly woman in Bengaluru was allegedly cheated an auto driver posing as an Uber driver, after a ride was booked remotely for her a family member. The incident shared on Reddit has triggered concerns over commuter safety and impersonation scams in the city.The user alleged that the act was deliberate impersonation rather than a misunderstanding. (Pexels/Representational Image)In the post titled ‘‘Karnataka auto scam: impersonating Uber drivers and exploiting elderly passengers’, the user described how he had booked an Uber Auto for his mother from a different location and was monitoring the trip details on the app, while the mother herself had no access to the app or ride information.According to the post, an auto driver arrived at the pickup point and claimed to be from Uber/Ola, persuading her to get into the vehicle. Although the OTP linked to the booking was shared verbally, the ride never started on the app, with the assigned Uber auto still shown as “at pickup”.“When I called my mom, she told me she was already inside the auto. Midway through the ride, the driver casually revealed that he was not from Uber,” the user wrote.The OP shared that at the destination, the driver demanded almost double the fare displayed on the app and refused to accept the Uber fare amount. “She paid just to end it,” he wrote.The user alleged that the act was deliberate impersonation rather than a misunderstanding. “The driver was never under any confusion. He knew she was not his assigned passenger, knew the trip on his device did not correspond to her booking, and still chose to continue the ride while presenting himself as an Uber driver. All he had to do was say “Madam, this is not your Uber.” He didn’t — because the impersonation was deliberate,” he wrote, adding that the driver appeared to enjoy the episode.He concluded the post saying, “This was not confusion. This was not a make. This was deliberate impersonation and exploitation of an elderly passenger.”(Also Read: Bengaluru woman explains why her surname is ‘Bangalore’: ‘My grandfather didn’t want…’)Social media reactionsSeveral Reddit users reacted sharing similar experiences across Bengaluru.One user wrote, “I have respect for the few decent auto drivers in the city, but there’s a special place in hell for the rest of them. So sorry this happened to your parents.”“Yeah it happened to me once near cubbon park I sat on the auto as i have seen that vehicle no. And the person is different from the app many times. And it never caused any problems with me . But once he refused to enter the otp i got suspicious and stopped the auto right there,” commented another.“Also noticed other thing, regration number in app and auto are different. Sometimes they post number in Uber as a sticker on windshield. I don’t know these guys are doing lot of things behind screen,” remarked a third user.(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)