In 2016, a strange and unsettling scam began surfacing on ride-hailing apps in China. Passengers booking rides through Uber started noticing something odd. The driver profiles assigned to pick them up often showed disturbing, distorted or zombie-like faces.What initially appeared to be a glitch or a joke soon turned out to be a calculated scam.The so-called “ghost drivers” were not supernatural, but real drivers exploiting a loophole in the system. Their goal was simple. They wanted passengers to cancel rides out of fear, allowing them to collect cancellation fees without ever showing up.The scam was reported across several major Chinese cities, including Tianjin, Qingdao, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou. According to local media and international reports at the time, the method relied heavily on psychology.When a passenger booked a ride, the app would display the driver’s profile photo, along with details such as the car and number plate. In many cases, the images used by these drivers were deliberately unsettling. Some appeared heavily edited, distorted or even horror-themed. Given existing safety concerns around ride-sharing, many users chose to cancel the ride immediately.That decision came at a cost.
Cancelling a ride before pickup typically triggered a small fee, often just a few yuan (Chinese currency). While the amount was minor, the scale of the scam made it profitable. If repeated many times in a day, drivers could earn money without completing a single trip.The scheme did not stop there. Drivers used additional tactics if passengers did not cancel out of fear.One method involved starting the trip without the passenger ever entering the car. These “ghost rides” allowed the driver to register a completed journey and collect a fare. Another tactic involved accepting a ride request and then simply not turning up. The passenger, left waiting, would eventually cancel and again pay a fee.In some reported cases, users described situations where the app showed the driver’s car approaching or even passing their location, despite no vehicle being visible. One rider from Shandong province told the Financial Times, “It was at night and from the driver’s location I was expecting the driver to arrive very soon. The map showed the driver just passed me, but there was no car around. The road was very narrow and there’s no way a car could have passed me without me seeing it.”The problem gained attention at a sensitive time for Uber in China. The company had been struggling financially in the country, reportedly losing around $1 billion per year. In August 2016, Uber merged its China operations with local rival Didi Chuxing, effectively ending its independent operations in the market.Even as the merger was taking place, the ghost driver issue highlighted the challenges of managing a large and decentralised driver network.Uber acknowledged the problem publicly. The company stated that it had a “zero-tolerance attitude to scamming behavior” and said it was actively investigating the issue. It also confirmed that it had begun banning accounts linked to fraudulent activity.“We have taken immediate actions and banned these reported individual fraud accounts while continuing to investigate and crack down on any fraudulent behavior to protect rider and driver interests,” an Uber spokesperson said at the time.To prevent such scams, Uber had already introduced a facial recognition system for drivers in China. This system was designed to ensure that the person driving matched the registered account holder. However, the ghost driver scam showed that identity verification alone was not enough to stop manipulation of the platform.The company also said it was refunding customers who reported being affected and was gathering evidence to better understand the scale of the issue.Reports suggested that the scam may not have been isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern. The use of similar tactics across multiple cities raised concerns that drivers were sharing methods or coordinating behaviour.The episode also highlighted a broader issue in the ride-hailing industry. Digital platforms rely heavily on trust, both in the driver and the system itself. When that trust is undermined, even small scams can have a large impact on user confidence.While the financial loss for individual passengers was usually minimal, the experience itself was unsettling. The combination of eerie images, missing drivers and unexplained charges created a sense of unease among users.In the years since, ride-hailing companies have tightened their systems and introduced stronger safeguards. However, the “ghost drivers” of China remain one of the more unusual examples of how technology platforms can be exploited in unexpected ways.What made the scam stand out was not just the fraud, but the method. By using fear and confusion, drivers turned a simple cancellation feature into a tool for profit. It was a reminder that even in highly controlled digital environments, human behaviour can find gaps to exploit.
