How a Bengaluru woman stopped an Ola cab driver from scamming her

Payment scams are becoming more common, especially with payment apps. Recently, a woman in Bengaluru shared a story on Reddit about how an Ola driver tried to scam her with a fake payment screenshot.

The woman had booked an Ola cab from JP Nagar Phase 3 to Wilson Garden for Rs 254. When she reached her destination, the driver asked her to pay Rs 749 for a 5.1 km trip. She found this suspicious because even with Ola's usual price hikes, an increase of Rs 500 was too much.

When she questioned the fare, the driver pretended to be surprised and showed her a screenshot on his phone. He insisted she pay right away and complain later. But the woman asked to see the fare on his phone.

Confidently, the driver handed over his phone. She noticed that the Ola app was still running in the background. Realizing the driver was showing a fake screenshot, she tapped the app logo and saw that the trip hadn’t ended yet. This confirmed her suspicion that the driver was trying to scam her.

This is not the first time this scam has been used to charge exorbitantly. In the month of March, a Delhi man reported a similar incident on Uber. He had booked a cab from the Delhi airport to his home, which showed a fee of Rs 340. However, the driver demanded Rs 648 at the destination. The man paid the sum since it was late at night. However, he clicked a picture of the driver's phone which showed the screenshot. He later received a partial refund from Uber.  

Both Ola and Uber are plagued with this scam. However, a simple way to avoid being scammed is the use of automatic online payment, where the rider need not hassle with the driver over the fees. Te riders can also use the app’s built-in wallet which automatically deducts the correct amount.