A Bengaluru resident recently shared how she outwitted a cab driver attempting to scam her, without escalating the situation. She took to Reddit to recount the experience after booking a Rapido ride from Central College to Hoodi. The fare displayed on the app was Rs. 385, but the driver had a low rating of 2.6. Despite the rating, she decided to proceed with the ride, given the rain and the cab’s proximity.
The ride was incident-free until the driver let her off and demanded Rs. 600. He had a screenshot to back up his claim, which, upon close inspection, was from an earlier ride. Meanwhile, her app still showed that the trip was still going on and had not deviated in route or added extra stops to warrant the additional fare.
Scam Exposed
He complicated things even further by logging out of his account and into a different one. Here he had an empty ride history while he continued to argue about the inflated fare. Having now seen this scam, the commuter opted not to confront him but instead to play along to de-escalate the situation.
She calmly sympathized with the driver, saying she would pay whatever the app showed, even if it was Rs. 1,000. She cooperated with all his requests—logging in and out, connecting to home WiFi, and even pretending to call Rapido’s SOS service.
“I played along, telling him I’d pay whatever fare was shown in my app, even if it was Rs. 1,000. I checked everything he asked—logged in and out, connected to home WiFi, and even pretended to call Rapido SOS,” she wrote in her Reddit post.
She finally said, “I’d pay Rs. 385 now and GPay the rest once the app updated. That reverse-UNO of sympathy worked!”
20 minutes passed, going back and forth. She accepted the original fare of Rs. 385 and left. Then the app updated, showing that the fare was indeed Rs. 385. She was correct in suspecting the scam.
Cab Scam Alert: My Tactical Escape
byu/Sharp-Celery-6745 inbangalore
Reactions of Reddit Users
Reddit users were quick to praise the commuter for her calm and composed handling of the scam attempt. Many expressed admiration for her patience in defusing the situation without confronting the driver.
One of the users commented, “It’s unfortunate that scams like this happen, but you did a smart job staying composed and not letting the driver push you into paying more.”
Others pointed out that while low-rated drivers are often a risk, the way she avoided conflict was impressive. Some users also suggested she file a complaint against the driver to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
