How China's 'Ghost Drivers' Scammed Uber Users With Disturbing Profile Photos

A viral post on Instagram has brought renewed attention to a bizarre ride-hailing scam that surfaced in China in 2016. The post claims that some drivers used unsettling profile pictures to alarm passengers and prompt them to cancel rides, allowing drivers to collect cancellation fees without ever showing up.

What The Viral Instagram Post Claimed

The viral post said that drivers had discovered and exploited a loophole in the system. It introduced the claim by describing how the alleged scam spread rapidly.

The caption of the post read, "In 2016, Uber drivers in China discovered a loophole so simple and so brilliantly stupid that it spread across the entire country within weeks."

Explaining how the loophole worked, the post added, "If a passenger cancels a ride after a certain amount of time, the driver collects a cancellation fee. The drivers figured out that instead of actually driving people around, they could just make passengers cancel on their own by making their profile photos as deeply unsettling as humanly possible."

It then described the kind of images that were reportedly used to unsettle users, "Distorted faces. Stretched photos. Eyes in the wrong place. Mouths open in silent screams. Profile pictures that looked like they had been pulled from a horror film at 3am. Passengers would open the app, see who was coming to pick them up, and immediately cancel the ride without a second thought. The driver collected the fee, never moved the car, and waited for the next one."

Giving further details, the post claimed, "At peak points, some drivers were reportedly running this scam dozens of times per day across multiple fake accounts. No driving required. Just one truly horrifying profile photo and an unlimited supply of passengers who did not want to find out if the person behind that face was real."

It also outlined how the company eventually responded: "Uber eventually caught on and started requiring verified ID photos for driver profiles. The ghost drivers disappeared almost overnight. But for a brief window in 2016, somewhere in China, a group of people discovered that the most profitable thing they could do with a car was never use it and just look as terrifying as possible. Genuinely one of the most creative scams ever run," concluded the post.

Is This True?

The claims are based on a real incident reported in China in 2016. Passengers booking rides through Uber began reporting an unusual pattern. The profiles of drivers assigned to pick them up often displayed disturbing or distorted images, sometimes resembling zombie-like faces. What initially appeared to be a technical glitch or a prank was later identified as a deliberate scam.

These so-called "ghost drivers" were not fake accounts, but real drivers exploiting a loophole in the system. Their aim was to create fear or discomfort among passengers, prompting them to cancel their rides. In doing so, drivers were able to earn cancellation fees without completing the trip.

The scam was reported in several major Chinese cities, including Tianjin, Qingdao, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou. According to local and international reports, the method relied on psychological manipulation. When a passenger booked a ride, the app displayed the driver's profile photo along with details such as the vehicle and registration number. In many cases, drivers used heavily edited or deliberately unsettling images to alarm users.

Given existing safety concerns around ride-hailing services, many passengers chose to cancel their bookings immediately after seeing these images. This allowed the drivers to profit without ever arriving for the ride.

Uber's Response

According to a report by The Guardian, Uber had acknowledged the issue and said it was gathering evidence while reviewing complaints from users.

In a statement to Chinese media, the company said it had a "zero-tolerance attitude to scamming behaviour" and added that affected users were being refunded. It also noted that technological measures were being used to tackle the problem.

As part of its response, Uber had rolled out facial-recognition technology in China to curb driver fraud. The system was designed to ensure that the driver's face matched the one registered on the platform.

"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 told Quartz as reported by The Guardian. 

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