A coalition of taxi drivers says driver-for-hire scams are spreading quickly in Winnipeg through fake ride-hailing.
This week, police reported seeing around a dozen reports of vehicles with fake taxi signs outside of malls and other places with high foot traffic. After telling a potential passenger they don’t accept cash, fraudsters use card-skimming techniques to steal debit card data from riders and withdraw money.
Ram Valluru, a Winnipeg Community Taxi Association member and Unicity Taxi manager, said people posing as ride-hailing drivers for companies such as Uber are picking up passengers on the spot and scamming them.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
A taxi speeds by a vehicle with an Uber sticker in the window after it was announced that the ride-hailing service was open for business in Winnipeg.
“People often aren’t aware that drivers for (ride-hail) companies like Uber are not authorized to pick up street hails, and drivers cannot accept cash,” he said in a statement.
The vehicle-for-hire industry has exploded since Uber began operating in Winnipeg in 2020, resulting in competition with the taxi industry.
While taxi drivers are required to have cameras, shields and GPS tracking, ride-hailing services are less regulated, and it might be more difficult to recognize a scam, Valluru said.
“Safety is an ongoing concern. (Ride-hail) drivers are not subject to the same licence requirements as taxi drivers,” the statement reads. “They don’t have to take the same training as taxi drivers. Their vehicles don’t have cameras or shields.”
An Uber spokesperson said passengers should never accept an Uber that wasn’t booked through its app.
“Riders should always match important trip details, like the licence plate, make and model of the vehicle, and driver name with the app, and only take trips requested through the app,” they said in an email. “Our community guidelines prohibit off-app pickups.”
The association said the city’s vehicle-for-hire office is following up on reports, including one where a fake taxi was spotted at St. Vital Shopping Centre this week.
A quick way to tell if a cab is legitimate is to check for a name decal on its doors and a three-digit taxi identification number on the inside and outside of the vehicle. All legitimate taxi companies take cash.
Sightings of fake taxis should be reported to police.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak Abas
Reporter
Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.
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