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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.
"[Lockito] sets the false GPS movement. have the [Lockito] 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."
Why is "movement" involved in calculating a fare from a pickup point to a dropoff location? Surely this is done using a map. "Movement" makes it sound like fare calculation works by driving a physical dry run of the planned journey, over real roads but without a passenger, which is ridiculous.
What does GPS have to do with maps? I understand driver slang, "I got a GPS for my car," means I got a Tom-tom or some other computer full of maps that incidentally has a GPS receiver to help center the map, but the maps are its main feature. However altering GPS coordinates can't alter map data.
Can we get an explanation of what's going on that uses words according to their true meanings instead of this fuzzy-headed nonsense?