Beware of Fake Uber Driver

Photo by PoPville flickr user Ted Eytan

“Dear PoPville,

I’m writing as a PSA. Thursday night I left a club downtown and got into what I thought was my Uber. He had rolled down his window and asked “Uber?” I stated my name and he said “yes, get in.” I was headed somewhere in Virginia about 20 minutes away and didn’t realize he headed towards Maryland. Admittedly I had been drinking and I would have noticed I was going in the wrong direction had I been sober but was looking down at my phone and wasn’t paying attention. He said he needed to pull over to get gas which I immediately thought was strange so I looked up my location, saw I wasn’t in Virginia and bolted out of the car booking it 10 blocks or so until I saw a security guard parked outside an apartment building. We called the cops so I could file a report and thankfully made it home safely. I can’t remember what the car or the driver looked like so unfortunately he’ll get away with it. It could have ended a lot worse and I’m thankful I made it out okay but want to remind everyone, especially women at night, to check the license plate and ask your driver for your name.”