Rogue Lyft Driver Tries To Pick Up Rider Who Isn't His, Then Follows Her

By Mae Rice in News on Dec 24, 2015 6:56PM



Lyft Mustache (Photo by Tony Webster via the Creative Commons on Flickr)

Updated Saturday, December 26: After a Chicago woman ordered a Lyft on Wednesday, a man who wasn’t her driver attempted to pick her up, according to a Facebook post.

Writer Brittany Julious said in the post:



My driver was supposed to be an older black woman in an SUV. I got the notification saying my driver arrived. Went up the car window to check that the driver matched the picture and saw it was a man in his 40s. Car was different too. As I turned away to go back inside, he said, "Brittany? Get in the car!" I said, "You're not my driver. I'm going inside." But he kept shouting that "it doesn't matter" and to get in the car. "I can drive you." About 10 seconds later, my actual Lyft driver, the woman, pulls up and asks what's going on and who he is. At that point, the man speeds away. I leave eventually with the original woman and the man comes back and follows us for two or three blocks before we lose him at a light.

Julious also told Chicagoist the driver had a "long long beard" with "some gray in it" and "appeared Mediterranean or Arab." He was driving "a black newer [sedan-like] car."

It's unclear exactly how this happened. In her note, Julious hypothesized that the man had hacked into the app; according to Lyft, which says safety is its top priority, Julious had cancelled a ride just before this incident with a driver who matched the man's description.

Julious said Lyft's story could be true..

"I canceled a low rated driver before I ordered my new ride," she told Chicagoist. However, she added, "That doesn't change the fact that the man kept insisting I get into his car after the ride was canceled or that he followed us."

