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Uber Drivers In Lagos Are Using a Fake GPS App To Inflate Rider Fares (qz.com)
According to Quartz, some Uber drivers in Lagos have been using a fake GPS itinerary app called Lockito to illicitly bump up fares for local drivers. The app was initially created for developers to "test geofencing-based apps," but has been used by Uber drivers to inflate the cost of their trips. From the report: In some cases, inflated trips can cost riders more than double the rate they should be paying. "It's more like a parasite," says Mohammed, a driver for both Uber and Taxify in Lagos. "It sets the false GPS movement while allowing the phone also to keep track of its actual movement. The Uber app can't tell the difference between both so it just calculates both." When a driver uses Lockito for an Uber trip he or she can have the fake GPS running (and calculating a fake fare) from the pickup point to the drop off location, before the passenger has even got into the car. When the real trip starts, the real GPS starts running and calculating the actual fare. But at the end of the journey the fares from both trips (real and fake) are tallied up as one fare which the unsuspecting rider pays. Some drivers use Lockito to inflate fares by adding 1000 naira to 2000 naira extra (roughly $3 to $6) but some drivers are believed to inflate fares to exorbitant levels.
Just make sure the rider and the driver's GPS show the same route. If the routes differ, somebody (one or both) is scamming the system. Keep tracking enough fares, and it will become apparent who's scamming and who you can trust. Couple that with a bit of post processing the reported route being charged verses the total time and known traffic conditions, it's going to be really clear what's going on and then Uber can correct the charges.
Eventually, armed with a zero tolerance policy that prescribes an ever increasing level of punishment for those who attempt to scam and reimbursement for ill gotten gains, you will weed out the bad apples. You won't get away with doing this very long before Uber gives you the boot and the problem corrects itself.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Exactly. Who writes these summaries? It makes no sense. There are two routes and the they get summed and the rider pays for both? I guess they are using a fake GPS app to fool the Uber app, but who the hell knows.