India Taxi Scams & How to Avoid Scammers? (SHOCKING Incident Exposed at Bengaluru Airport)

This video is about India Taxi Scams & How to Avoid Scammers? (SHOCKING Incident Exposed at Bengaluru Airport)

I'll share my recent near miss with some taxi scammers and make you aware about how they operate and what are you other options when traveling in India so you are better prepared and don't fall for these scams! Let's Go!

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Despite the presence of app based taxi services, which are very "convenient", you'd be shocked to know that there still a huge scam running where Indians and foreigners are being scammed into paying a heavy price and, more often than not, getting exposed to some really unsafe situations!

In my case, this happened at Bangalore airport where I recently landed from Europe! Since I was so well familiar with the entire transport set up, or at least I thought I was, after arrival I started walking towards the taxi area while initiating the booking process on the phone app.

It's a 2 minute walk from the airport exit to the taxi bay, but during this short walk itself, I had 3 different individuals claiming to be UBER or Ola drivers approach me. Each of them said the same thing: "There is a huge waiting time, taxis are not available, cancel your booking and come with me, my car is right here waiting for you and of course, I'll match the price that you see in the app"

It's a scam, don't fall for it!

Anyway, the trip finally started but the guy just wouldn't give up! Not even 10 mins into the ride and he says that that the car is really low on fuel and that he needs to refuel! I said "go ahead, fuel up if you need to". He said No no, you didn't get it, can you pay me Rs 500 now for the fuel and then I will adjust this with the final invoice amount.

He said that one of his friends is finished with work shift and co-incidentally the friend had to travel in the same direction as me, so, if it was okay for me, his friend would like to join in the same taxi?

Of course, I declined, I said no and told him- Can you just Stop this!

Half way through the ride, the driver asks you to switch to another car because his car suddenly broke down. SCAM! Don't do it. Besides getting into money problem with the 2nd driver, it's also very unsafe to switch rides because no one is tracking the 2nd car.

hmm, so really, what can you do to avoid these situation?

first - If you have no idea about the city, try to arrange for a pick up in advance.

Next - Use the official pre-paid taxi service at the airport.

Next - when using the app based service, even if you don't have luggage, or you're only going to travel a short distance, always book a premier/ Prime category taxi. These drivers will be more professional than the others.

Another thing you can do when using the app based taxi service is to share the driver details with 1 or 2 of your contacts and also activate the share live location feature.

Next one is a bit controversial due to the on going pandemic, but if possible when you're traveling alone, sit directly behind the driver because that seat is the hardest for him to reach. Also, goes without saying that you should check the child safety lock is not locked before you enter the cab, otherwise you'll not be able to open the door from inside!

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