What is DiDi?
Didi is a life-saver for people living in China. It is their equivalent of Uber and has a huge userbase, providing tens of thousands of customers with rides each day. It works through an app which assigns you a driver based both on your location and the location of the nearest drivers. Most taxis use it and is probably the reason that taxis drive past you without stopping- it’s nothing personal!
All the payment for Didi is done in-app and means it is a cashless mode of private transport. Because of this, all you need is your phone to get around everywhere. It is a decent business for a normal local- many drivers earn up to 10,000 Yuan per month.
The scam
However, many DiDi drivers have found a way to increase their income considerably. They install a software (which isn’t strictly illegal) that allows them to go from making roughly 350 yuan per day to almost 1000! The scam mimics a longer journey to increase the price of the ride and is often two to three times the original price. Also, the scam allows drivers to pick up customers from any location and not just the ones nearby.
How does the scam work?
It is a ‘plug-in’ app on the driver’s phone that cannot be downloaded. Instead, it is predownloaded onto an iPhone during the initial setup, so these phones are ready to scam customers. The phones generally sell for about 2000-3000 yuan in back street markets. Many drivers use this app on long journeys because there is more opportunity to scam customers by using longer routes and detours.
How to know if you’re being scammed?
The simplest way to see if you have been scammed is to compare the ride overview from the driver’s phone to your DiDi app. If the driver’s shows a considerably larger distance, then there is a good chance you are being scammed. However, it may not be that simple. Many drivers open the normal DiDi app to seem like you are getting a fair price, whilst the distance and meter is still running on the dodgy app.
What can we do?
This scam has had a lot of publicity amongst residents of Shanghai because DiDi is so commonly used. This is good- more people being are aware of it means the drivers have less power to scam customers. If you complain to DiDi and provide solid evidence of being scammed, they will repay you and give you compensation. DiDi want to stop the scammers as much as you do- it gives them a bad reputation!
Is this illegal?
For short distances, this app actually is not illegal. However, if you are scammed more that 3000 yuan, that is considered to be illegal because it is a large enough amount to be considered stealing. If these drivers are caught they can have a criminal case made against them!
Hopefully this has made you aware of the latest scam- be careful when you get into a DiDi!
To read more: Joanna Real Estate
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