A detailed Reddit post warning of a new auto-rickshaw scam in Bengaluru has gone viral, raising concerns about the safety of passengers — especially elderly commuters who rely on app-based ride bookings made by family members.
A post shared on the r/bangalore subreddit recounts how a user’s mother was allegedly duped by a car driver who posed as an Uber car driver despite not being assigned a ride on the app. The incident occurred when a user booked an Uber Auto remotely for his mother, who is not tech-savvy and did not have access to the app’s interface.
According to the post, while the Uber app continued to show the assigned driver as “in pickup” and the trip had not officially started, another car driver arrived at the scene claiming to be from Uber or Oly. Trusting the claim, the elderly woman got into the car and shared the OTP, unaware that the ride was unrelated to her booking.
The user said he realized something was wrong when the app still showed the ride as inactive even after his mother started traveling. Halfway through the trip, the driver allegedly admitted that he was not affiliated with Uber. At the destination, the woman insisted on paying the fare shown on the app, but the driver allegedly demanded almost double the amount.
Faced with an unpleasant and dangerous situation, she paid a higher fare to end the ride.
Readers were particularly concerned by claims that the driver appeared to be fully aware that he was not the assigned driver and had deliberately given false information about himself. “It was not a mix-up or a mistake,” the user wrote, claiming the impersonation was intentional and exploitative.
The post triggered a wave of similar accounts in the comments section, with several users sharing experiences of drivers demanding extra money, misrepresenting bookings or pressuring passengers – even when rides are booked through official apps. Many pointed out that elderly passengers are particularly vulnerable in such situations, as they often rely on verbal reassurances rather than app verification.
One user wrote: “I respect the few decent car drivers in town but there’s a special place in hell for the rest. I’m sorry this happened to your parents.”
Another user commented: “Yes, it happened to me once near Cubbon park, I was sitting on the car because I saw that vehicle no. And the person is different from the app many times. And it never caused me any problems. But once he refused to enter the otp, I got suspicious and stopped the car right there.”
“Also noticed another thing, the registration number on the app and the car are different. Sometimes in Uber they post the number as a sticker on the windshield. I don’t know that these guys do a lot of things behind the screen,” wrote a third user.
The Reddit user ended the post with a set of warnings for families booking rides for parents and seniors: never enter a car unless the trip started in the app, always confirm the driver’s name and vehicle number, and don’t just rely on verbal claims that it’s from Uber or Oly.
