Individuals exiting South African airports have been warned not to engage with people presenting themselves as Uber drivers when they are not registered on the app.
Frequent traveller Johan van Schalkwyk recently told Cape Talk that these people have no affiliation with e-hailing services like Bolt or Uber and are scamming individuals out of thousands of rands
“They are offering the services like they were an Uber to unsuspecting people. They are scamming them,” he said.
Van Schalkwyk highlighted that there are several online groups where tourists and local travellers have spoken about these scammers.
“The thing you read often is someone saying ‘my trip should have been R420, but I got to the hotel and connected to the Wi-Fi to see I’ve been charged R4,200’,” he said.
He did not elaborate on how the fake Uber drivers were able to charge the higher amount.
However, considering the money was taken out of the victims’ bank accounts, they presumably gave their card details to the scammers.
TopAuto previously encountered one of these fake Uber drivers at O.R. Tambo International in Gauteng.
The person insisted they were an Uber driver and talked around the question when asked to present the app on their phone to prove they were a registered driver.
Unlike the scammers mentioned by Van Schalkwyk, this individual did not ask for a card payment.
In our case, the person asked what we were willing to pay for our trip. We deliberately told them a lower amount than what the Uber app estimated for the same trip.
The driver was quick to agree to a fee of R300 (the app suggested a minimum of R350), indicating the person was desperate to take whatever money they could get.
The person was friendly enough, and nothing dangerous came of the incident, but it should go without saying that you should never engage with these people, let alone provide your payment details.
Some, like the driver we encountered, seem to be little more than individuals desperate to make a living in a tough economy, but without going through the proper channels.
However, others, like the ones Van Schalkwyk mentioned, have malicious intentions that can range from scamming travellers to even more dangerous scenarios like kidnapping.
Blatant scamming at South African airports
Van Schalkwyk noted that these scammers have grown bold, continuing to act despite an increase in security at airports.
Airports like O.R. Tambo have posted signs and markers leading travellers to dedicated e-hailing pickup spots in their car parks, and often play public service announcements in the terminals advising people not to engage with supposed e-hailing operators lingering in the area.
However, Van Schalkwyk pointed out that these scammers are more active at night, indicating that the new airport security measures were only operational during the day.
“My latest flight was arriving after 21:00, and it seems that this is where the problem now lies. There’s been improvement. But I do believe there’s a nighttime problem there,” he said.
He suggested that one way to combat the issue could be to formalise “good” taxi operators and give them a place where they can offer their services.
“Make it clear that this is an approved taxi pickup area. That improves the situation, and it gives those legit drivers a real place to make money and to do business.”
“Then it kind of eliminates this opportunist that’s hanging around, and I just find it blatant that they’re using Uber signage and branding. The scariest part is that they’re doing this blatantly.”
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