Con Uber taxi fleeces victim in the Bay

POLICE have warned Uber users to be vigilant after an incident in which a man was robbed by someone posing as a driver in Port Elizabeth.

The weekend incident saw the man, 27, lured into a vehicle he thought was an Uber taxi as part of a robbery ploy.

But despite it being described as an isolated incident, police detectives had been briefed to keep a sharp eye out for an emerging trend.

The part-time student, who asked not to be named in fear that the men could locate him, said he was held hostage and driven around for about three hours on Saturday. The men forced him to surrender his bank card and pin number.

The man, who is from Queenstown but living in Port Elizabeth, got into a VW polo when it arrived at Bridge Street Brewery at 11pm.

“I had been drinking with mates and watching the cricket.

“I then arranged an Uber to get home and walked outside to wait.

A white Polo was parked at the top and when the driver saw me, he came up next to me asking if I was waiting for an Uber,” he said. “I said ‘yes’ and he claimed to be my driver. “We then drove off.” The student was then driven to St George’s Park.

“The next thing there were two guys outside. One put a gun into my side.

“After driving around for a while, they dropped me and the one guy on the side of the road and the other two drive off. “Next thing they came back and drove us around some more,” he said.

“They eventually dropped me off in Park Drive and I ran down the street screaming for help but no one came. I managed to walk to the Mount Road Police Station,” he said. The man said R2 000 had been withdrawn from his bank account.

“This is the first reported incident where a robbery related to a person posing as an Uber driver has occurred,” police spokeswoman Priscilla Naidu said.

Uber Africa spokeswoman Samantha Allenberg said: “The Uber app provides riders with the details of their driver as soon as a rider accepts a trip.

“Riders should check the driver’s name and photo, vehicle type and licence plate number” [before getting into the vehicle], she said. — TMG