Uber scams and carjackings seem to have become the “norm”. See what Minneapolis police issued to rideshare drivers in this week’s roundup with senior RSG contributor Paula Gibbins. She’ll also go over a super-fast delivery option Uber is dipping its toes into, an Uber scam that got resolved and more.
Special Note: Join us on 11/2 at noon PT for a very special Curbivore Coffee Break webinar “Learning from Lockdown”. The webinar is featuring Streets For All’s Adriane Hoff, SolarFi’s Antonio Dixon & Automotus’s Aryan Davani. Register now here.
Uber info used to identify suspects in elderly phone scam case; $166,000 recovered (AL.com)
Summary: Information obtained by ride service Uber was used to identify suspects in a scam case involving an elderly man in Morgan County.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department reported an elderly man had been called by someone posing as his grandson claiming to have been arrested after a vehicle accident. Another man claiming to be an attorney got on the phone and asked for a total of $74,000, saying a courier would arrive to pick up the packages.
The victim was contacted again on Oct. 5 and the “attorney” asked for $50,000 in cash. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division was alerted and set up in the area to intercept the courier who was stopped in the driveway. The courier was identified as an Uber driver who had been sent to collect the package. The driver was cooperative and provided information used in a search warrant on Uber Technologies. That information was used to identify a suspect and deputies learned a similar scam had occurred in Madison County.
Morgan County Sheriff said Kino Deandre Roper, 26, was arrested in connection to the scam. The investigation also identified suspect Christopher Roper, 30, in connection to the case. Brooks is being held on $500,000 bond in Madison County and will face additional charges in Morgan County.
Law enforcement recovered $166,000 in cash from the suspects….
My Take: It seems like new scams are cropping up constantly. It’s good to see that some of the jerks who are running the scams are getting caught. This may not have been an Uber-specific scam, but an Uber driver was involved (intentionally or not) and his information was used to bring justice to this case.
If you want to know about scams that we’ve seen, check out Uber Cancellation Scams to Watch Out For.
Uber jumps into Europe’s rapid grocery delivery market with 15-minute service in Paris (CNBC)
Summary: Uber is taking on Europe’s buzzy grocery delivery start-ups with a service in Paris that ships essential items to shoppers’ doors in as little as 15 minutes.
The U.S. ride-hailing and food delivery company said it has expanded a partnership with French supermarket chain Carrefour to debut the service, which is called Carrefour Sprint. It will be available on the Uber Eats app from Tuesday.
Rather than sending couriers to Carrefour stores, Uber is relying on a network of so-called dark stores — small warehouses where pickers and packers prepare orders for delivery — operated by French start-up Cajoo.
Carrefour partnered with Cajoo earlier this year to help it offer its own rapid delivery service. The retail group is also a minority shareholder in Cajoo.
Europe has seen a flood of grocery upstarts emerge recently, fueled by surging demand during the coronavirus pandemic and hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital.
Turkey’s Getir raised $550 million at a $7.5 billion valuation in June, while Germany’s Gorillas recently closed a $1 billion funding round led by food delivery firm Delivery Hero, valuing the company at $3.1 billion.
In Paris, Uber will go head-to-head with Getir, Gorillas, U.K. start-up Zapp and Russian tech giant Yandex….
My Take: Super-fast deliveries are becoming all the rage. Deliveries in 15 minutes? Wow! I never thought we’d get to this point. Heck, I was happy with groceries being shopped for me and I went to pick them up. Even cooler was when I could place a delivery order and have it delivered within 2 hours.
We are a spoiled society already and add a 15-minute delivery to the mix? Crazy!
MPD warns Lyft, Uber drivers to be alert after numerous carjackings (Spokesman-Recorder)
Summary: After numerous carjackings of Uber and Lyft drivers, the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) has issued a citywide alert to warn drivers and passengers to be on alert.
The MPD has tracked a rash of Uber and Lyft drivers in Minneapolis being targeted by thieves, with 40 such incidents being reported since mid-August, and 12 in just the last seven days.
Multiple incidents include some or all the following actions:
- A request for service is made from a stolen phone.
- An individual meets the rideshare driver and asks them to wait a few minutes.
- A group of armed individuals may arrive in one or more stolen vehicles and block the exit of the ride share driver.
- The group of armed individuals surround the rideshare vehicle, demand the driver to exit the vehicle, and take the driver’s wallet, phone, and phone security code.
- Some drivers have been assaulted, including being pistol-whipped.
- The group of armed individuals leaves in the vehicles they arrived in and take the ride-share vehicle, as well.
- Vehicles used by the suspects are typically listed as stolen and/or have stolen plates or no plates….
My Take: Carjackings have been steadily on the rise across the U.S. for over a year now. This one hits close to home because, quite frankly, it’s close to home. I’ve never felt unsafe driving in the Minneapolis market until now.
12 incidents in the last 7 days. I know it’s mainly in one portion of the city, but without being able to see where you’re going until you pick up your passenger, you could easily end up somewhere scary and dangerous.
I hope drivers in the area (and elsewhere) take heed and avoid dangerous locations and neighborhoods.
Be prepared with this driver safety article: Carjacking Prevention Tips — How to Stay Safe on the Road.
Halloween Uber riders could get picked up in a fantasy vehicle straight out of pop culture (USA Today)
Summary: The psychedelic Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine is one of three famous rides that could surprise some Uber riders in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Miami over this Halloween weekend.
Uber riders in Los Angeles, Atlanta or Miami (as shown in the Uber app here) are eligible to be met by a vehicle well-known in pop culture: the SpongeBob SquarePants’ Patty Wagon will be in Los Angeles; in Atlanta, riders could be surprised by Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine; and in Miami, they could be met by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Party Wagon….
My Take: I think this is pretty cool, and as a consumer, I would likely spend a premium in order to book a ride with one of these vehicles.
Would you book a ride with the Mystery Machine? What about the Patty Wagon from SpongeBob SquarePants?
-Paula @ RSG
