Warning to Seattle Uber Drivers

Posting in r/Seattle because my mother is an Uber driver in Seattle and was targeted, fell for a scam, and sent money to someone pretending to be Uber.

What may seem like simple advice, never send money, never give out your PIN, can be advice in the heat of the moment that’s ignored due to one’s livelihood being threatened and also because as outrageous as the scams seem later, in the moment, they can seem legitimate.

People fall for scams every day because they work.

My mom is a full-time Uber driver, serving Seattle and the Seattle area for over a decade at this point. While she’s not the most tech-savvy, she’s been able to get people from Point A to Point B safely throughout the years.

Today I saw her and asked how her week was. I had seen her on Tuesday for a movie earlier that week and she seemed fine, so I asked her what had happened since then. Last night (Friday) she got a ride and shared with me that it was a stressful experience that involved her sending money to Uber. I quickly deduced that it was a scam.

Here’s the summary:

The driver gets a pickup location that’s not easily findable and confusing (maybe even not real, I didn’t get the exact address) and this causes the Uber driver to call the number on file.

A person answers and claims to be Uber. They say they created a fake ride so that they can talk to the driver and let them know that a recent customer complained that the driver has run a red light, stoplight etc. once the driver contests that the claim is untrue, they then reassure the driver that sometimes people make things up to get free rides.

While they have the driver on the phone they bring up another issue that conveniently came up while they were looking into the account which is that there is an unpaid initiation fee.

They state that until the fee is paid, the driver can no longer drive for Uber.

They ask the driver to send them x amount of money.

Once the money is paid, they ask for a PIN.

While this may seem like a scam to most people, again when you’re in the moment yourself and your livelihood is threatened, you may not have critical thinking skills, despite Uber telling you to never give out personal information.

“Oh she should have known it was a scam and shouldn’t have given money/personal information out.”

Have a heart. Don’t be a victim blamer. Many Uber drivers don’t have English as their first language, work it to make ends meet, or are even older like my mom and did not grow up with such complex technological schemes.

99/100 people who could spot this as a scam, clear as day, a mile away, would have, should have, called actual Uber support, but the one person who falls for it out of fear could have their whole account drained in a matter of moments. Scams exist because they work.

This is very well a nationwide issue but I am sharing here because Seattle Uber drivers have and will continue to be targeted. Let the Uber drivers in your life who are your family and friends know about this and if you want to warn Uber drivers you don’t know personally too, you could save them money stress and heartache.

Naturally my mom is very upset that she fell for this, but I told her that one scam in over a decade of driving isn’t bad, and I think that lifted her spirits a bit. She’s reached out to her bank who told her to check her phone for malware, cancel all accounts, and this is all currently ongoing. I will update as I receive more information.

If you read all of this or at least the tl;dr, I have some questions for anyone who’s gone through a similar experience. I am also extremely paranoid and worried that the scammer can now tap into her phone at any time and could possibly even hear her conversations with the bank, so I am thinking about replacing her phone. (Not sure if that is needed but I am honestly scared and again, paranoid)

tl;dr my mom, an Uber driver of 10+ years and a Seattleite of 60+ years, fell victim to a scam from someone claiming to be Uber, and sent them money and personal information because she thought her job was at risk of being terminated if she did not comply