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How much do you want to bet if I stole a driver's phone the app would stay logged in and I could pretend to be them? A phone is much easier to take than a car.

How much do you want to bet if I stole a driver's phone the app would stay logged in and I could pretend to be them? A phone is much easier to take than a car. Even with a picture, I could just wear stuff that obscures my hair, etc. so they wouldn't get a good look to the difference.

dnautics 12y ago
You would still need their car, as the passenger side identifies the vehicle with license plate.
- fweespeech 12y ago
  Ya about that... http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php
  - dnautics 12y ago
    So you're going to steal a driver's phone, appropriate a car of the same make and model, and color, then replicate a plate, before the app requires you to sign back in (every 3 or 4 days or so).
gambiting 12y ago
The exact same argument applies to someone who steals an actual, licensed taxi, and I don't think people worry about fake taxi drivers when they get a cab.
- DanBC 12y ago
  I agree, but people are warned about unlicenced cabs and many cab companies in UK will send an SMS with details of the car - make, colour, licence plate number - when you book because there was a problem of unlicensed cabs with radio scanners taking passengers before the real cab got there.
- fweespeech 12y ago
  Of course but stealing a whole car tends to result in actual police scrutiny. The last couple of times someone I know had a phone stolen the result was indifference.
pavel_lishin 12y ago
That seems like a movie plot.
dEnigma 12y ago
Hadn't thought of that, though that seems like a very unlikely scenario, since you would also need the car. And driving around in a stolen car with a stolen phone probably won't work for long and will probably get you caught just as fast as an actual Uber driver who assaults someone.
liberte82 12y ago
Uber also displays the license plate number of the car and the vehicle make/model in the app when you make your order. This provides an additional level of verification if you have security concerns.
- fweespeech 12y ago
  http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php Actually, its not really a solution. All of these identifiers are easily duplicated :/
  - dEnigma 12y ago
    But why would anyone go through all this trouble just to impersonate an Uber driver and assault a passenger?
    - fweespeech 12y ago
      http://www.januscam.com/index.php/news/125-cab/taxi-security-cameras/664-man-impersonating-taxi-driver-pleads-guilty-to-con http://www.januscam.com/index.php/news/125-cab/taxi-security... http://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_8748c000-a16b-5dd6-b55c-2b3a4df1eae1.html http://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_8748c000-a1... Faking Uber would be easier. Admittedly, iirc, these people were scammed relatively easily and at less of a threshold than pretending to be an Uber drive would require.
      - dEnigma 12y ago
        Interesting, maybe it isn't that far-fetched after all, though the risks of doing this by impersonating an Uber driver seem a little too hight to convince scammers.

dnautics 12y ago

You would still need their car, as the passenger side identifies the vehicle with license plate.

fweespeech 12y ago
Ya about that... http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php
- dnautics 12y ago
  So you're going to steal a driver's phone, appropriate a car of the same make and model, and color, then replicate a plate, before the app requires you to sign back in (every 3 or 4 days or so).

gambiting 12y ago

The exact same argument applies to someone who steals an actual, licensed taxi, and I don't think people worry about fake taxi drivers when they get a cab.

DanBC 12y ago
I agree, but people are warned about unlicenced cabs and many cab companies in UK will send an SMS with details of the car - make, colour, licence plate number - when you book because there was a problem of unlicensed cabs with radio scanners taking passengers before the real cab got there.
fweespeech 12y ago
Of course but stealing a whole car tends to result in actual police scrutiny. The last couple of times someone I know had a phone stolen the result was indifference.

pavel_lishin 12y ago

That seems like a movie plot.

dEnigma 12y ago

Hadn't thought of that, though that seems like a very unlikely scenario, since you would also need the car. And driving around in a stolen car with a stolen phone probably won't work for long and will probably get you caught just as fast as an actual Uber driver who assaults someone.

liberte82 12y ago

Uber also displays the license plate number of the car and the vehicle make/model in the app when you make your order. This provides an additional level of verification if you have security concerns.

fweespeech 12y ago
http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php http://www.licenseplates.tv/replicate_a_plate.php Actually, its not really a solution. All of these identifiers are easily duplicated :/
- dEnigma 12y ago
  But why would anyone go through all this trouble just to impersonate an Uber driver and assault a passenger?
  - fweespeech 12y ago
    http://www.januscam.com/index.php/news/125-cab/taxi-security-cameras/664-man-impersonating-taxi-driver-pleads-guilty-to-con http://www.januscam.com/index.php/news/125-cab/taxi-security... http://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_8748c000-a16b-5dd6-b55c-2b3a4df1eae1.html http://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_8748c000-a1... Faking Uber would be easier. Admittedly, iirc, these people were scammed relatively easily and at less of a threshold than pretending to be an Uber drive would require.
    - dEnigma 12y ago
      Interesting, maybe it isn't that far-fetched after all, though the risks of doing this by impersonating an Uber driver seem a little too hight to convince scammers.