Rideshare drivers are used to weird interactions. Late-night pickups, even scammy passengers, and the occasional awkward silence all come with the job.
However, for one woman, a recent trip ended in something far worse—a stolen phone, drained bank accounts, and a sobering reminder to trust your instincts.
TikTok user Rebecca (@adventures.in.recovery) shared a video that shows exactly how the theft went down. Her phone, she says, was swiped by a passenger just seconds after he entered her car.
Passenger enters, snatches phone, and runs
In the dashcam footage from July 27, we see Rebecca seated in her car as the passenger walks up and asks, “Are you Rebecca?”
Then, before she can even properly respond, he lunges into the car, grabs her phone from its mount, and takes off.
That was all it took.
“In just 45 minutes, the thief had drained most of my bank accounts and had changed the passwords on almost all of my personal accounts,” she said in the video.
Rebecca has been driving for eight years. She said this was her first theft—and the first time she ignored her gut.
“There were five red flags about this ride that I should have paid attention to,” she explained. “I should have trusted my gut instinct and canceled the ride, but I didn’t.”
The 5 red flags
According to Rebecca, here’s what set this ride apart.
- First, it was unusually short. “They were only going a couple blocks away,” she said. Thieves don’t want to spend more than they have to.
- Second, the rider’s name in the app was just a string of random letters. That made it difficult to ask for confirmation, which Rebecca says she normally does.
- Third, there was no profile photo. She had no way of visually confirming who was getting into her car.
- Fourth, the rider’s GPS wasn’t turned on. He approached from behind so the front dashcam wouldn’t catch him clearly.
- And fifth—he was wearing a mask. “He kept his head down while approaching the car, so I couldn’t tell until he was already inside,” she said.
While none of these alone were enough to cancel a ride, she admits that “all five of these things put together, I should have trusted my gut instinct and I should have gotten out of there.”
@adventures.in.recovery Five ? RED FLAGS ? for rideshare drivers being targeted for theft. Please share with the rideshare drivers you know! #rideshare #ridesharedriver #safetytips #redflags ♬ Complete silence no sound – Random stuff ✨?
Advice for rideshare drivers
Other drivers weighed in with suggestions on how to prevent something like this from happening.
One person recommended using a separate phone just for work: “Get a separate phone specifically for rideshare. You can write it off on your taxes.”
Another said that on some devices—like Samsung phones—banking apps can be locked with an extra layer of security, making them harder to access.
And some emphasized that short rides aren’t always a red flag. “I booked a short ride before but that’s because I was wearing heels and couldn’t walk anymore lol,” one user shared.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Rebecca via TikTok direct messages for comment.
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