A woman has gone viral after her ride home from the airport took a dangerous turn. What started as a normal Uber Black ride quickly escalated into a police matter, leaving creator Sarah Palmyra (@sarahpalmyra) shaken.
“I feel like I need to share my story, because so many people who follow me are women, and I genuinely did not realize I was in a potentially unsafe situation until my driver was arrested,” she began.
For Palmyra, the day started off pretty standard, as she ordered an Uber Black at LAX Airport. However, right after she got in the car, the police asked the Uber driver to roll down the window and show his app to them. Instead of complying, the driver rolled the window up and locked the car. As this all went on, Palmyra says she urged the driver to be compliant and then began recording.
Because she was locked in the car, the situation escalated further, with more officers banging on the windows. When he realized she was recording, the Uber driver asked her to say she got in the wrong car. She agreed so she could be let out of the vehicle.
When she exited the car, the police asked her to show them her Uber app. It showed that the name of the driver doesn’t match the name of the person. “I really just thought that as long as the driver had my information and I matched their license plate, it was completely OK,” she said.
As police told her this was becoming increasingly common, Palmyra urged viewers to look at Uber drivers’ photos. Additionally, ask their name and even ask to see their license, if they’re unsure.
The video amassed 176,000 views.
@sarahpalmyra Hope that my scary uber situation helps someone else avoid taking an unsafe ride! #uberdriver #uberstorytime #storytime #laxairport ♬ original sound – Sarah Palmyra✨
Commenters react
In the comments, several users related. One wrote, “This happened to me in Orlando, FL except I noticed it before I got into the car he tried to convince me to get in that it was his cousin that had made the account for him and that he hadn’t updated the picture to him but I didn’t feel safe told him no thank you I’ll request another ride and ran back into the airport.”
Another shared their own, similar story. “So one time, a DoorDash driver delivered our food to our complex, he handed me the bag and it was crushed and damaged,” they explained. “He was shaken up and told us he got into a car accident. When I saw him, I realized he didn’t match the driver assigned to our delivery. It was supposed to be a woman. I didn’t ask him but he told us he was using his wife’s account to work. I believed him. Looking back, I’m pretty sure it was a lie.”
A third echoed, “I routinely have DoorDashers who are not who they claim to be. I’ve scaled way back because something is obviously going on there.”
Meanwhile, a fourth claimed, “I remember during the pandemic, people were selling their Uber Eats accounts just to make ends meet. It became a source of income when things were really tough. Since contactless delivery was the norm, it kind of flew under the radar. But now it’s gone too far… people are selling actual driver accounts, and that’s really dangerous. You don’t know who’s behind the wheel.”
This is a common problem
Fraudulent Uber drivers aren’t just populating the rideshare app—they’re also common on Uber Eats. In a post on the r/UberEats subreddit, one Redditor wrote, “When I order Uber Eats, 90% of the time I’m given the picture and name of a woman, then when the driver actually arrives, it’s always a man. Sometimes even the vehicle and/or license is different.”
The user then asked fellow Redditors why there were so many fake riders, and in the replies, there were two main reasons: the driver being undocumented, or having a criminal record, and in turn being unable to pass the background check. Users also claimed that these drivers could purchase accounts from a third party, an issue that has also been highlighted by CNN.
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