An Uber driver in Florida was caught trying to scam a rider, then feigned innocence when confronted over it. It’s another example of the strange incentives at play for Uber drivers not to do their job.

Rider Catches Uber Driver In Scam, Confronts Him

I’ve writen before about he “driver doesn’t move” scam. You order a ride and the driver confirms. But the driver doesn’t move. You have a pick-up time of, say, six minutes, but six minutes go by and the driver still has not moved an inch. They don’t respond to messages or calls either. Sometimes the driver starts moving, but in the wong direction.

At this point, it is too late to cancel the ride. If you do cancel the ride at this point, you’re hit with a $5.00 cancellation fee (that goes, at least in part, to the driver).

And that is the point. With this scam, you can make money without ever moving. No gas. No wear and tear on the car. No having to drive even.

> Read More: The Uber “Driver Doesn’t Move” Scam Is Pathetic

As stupid as this seems for a few bucks, it appears that Uber algorithm has not caught onto this pernicious practice and it is still being used to defraud riders. View From The Wing flags a story in Florida in which a man became so annoyed over this trick that he drove to the driver’s location and confronted him (as displayed in the app)…he was just sitting in his car, chilling on Facebook with his headphones on.

The startled driver feigned innocence, adding that he would cancel the ride. He should be terminated from the platform…

The State Of Uber + Lyft In 2025

I thought about ditching Uber and Lyft after facing similar issues myself last year, but use the ridesharing app for my frequent trips to both Pennsylvania and Illinois as the best alternative to driving. Frankly, I’ve found both Lyft and Uber to work well (even though I get sick these days when trying to open my laptop during the ride). One thing that amazes me is how vastly the two apps can vary in price on the same route at the same time, especially when leaving airports.

Last time, Lyft was half the price of Uber. Sometimes Uber is cheaper. I realize surge pricing is somewhat a product of supply and demand (sometimes artificially induced), but it pays to check both apps.

Thankfully, beyond drivers who are a bit too talkative, it has been a smooth year of travel via ridesharing both in the USA and abroad.

CONCLUSION

A persistent Uber scam, nicely highlighted by the embedded video above, persists in 2025. I wish Uber would do more to crack down on drivers like these. In the meantime, kudos to this rider for holding his slimy driver accountable.

> Read More: I Used To Get So Much Done In Ubers. Now I Just Try Not To Puke.

image: Uber