Man posing as Uber driver tries to pick up Simmons College student
On Friday evening, a Simmons College student and her friend were waiting for an Uber driver to pick them up near campus when a man in a dark car pulled over near them. He told the women he was their Uber driver. He wasn’t.
The man in the car told the student to get in. Before doing so, she and her friend checked the license plate of the car and saw that it didn’t match the confirmation information on the app. When they refused to get in, the man sped away.
Simmons College issued an alert to students after the incident, and advised them to check a vehicle’s license plate before getting in to make sure it’s the right car. The release also urged students to travel in pairs, especially at night.
A spokesman for Uber pointed Boston.com to the company’s “saferide checklist,’’ which also encourages riders to check the license plate before entering the car.
This isn’t the first time people have posed as Uber drivers to lure unsuspecting customers. In December, a Boston man attacked and sexually assaulted a woman who got in his car. Just a few weeks ago, a man attempted to abduct a Tallahassee Community College student after she got in his car. And, last week, a faux Uber driver picked up two women near Texas Christian University and had what police described as “inappropriate conversations’’ with them.
Uber does have stickers to mark vehicles, but drivers aren’t required to use them. On Tuesday, the financial services committee will debate a bill filed by Gov. Charlie Baker that would increase regulations for ride-sharing drivers. If passed, drivers would be required to undergo state background checks and carry $1 million in liability insurance for each ride. It would also require them to make sure external markers are visible on their vehicles at all times.
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