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SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore police say they are investigating reports of a man who allegedly cheated and overcharged unsuspecting passengers while posing as a driver for mobile app-based transportation company Uber.
In accounts posted to Facebook, several people said a man in a Honda Airwave station wagon claiming to be an Uber driver picked them up on the roadside and charged two or three times the normal rate.
One man recounted a March 1 incident on his Facebook page by saying the meter jumped 40 Singapore dollars ($29) in just three minutes, and that the total fare came to 97 Singapore dollars ($71), far higher than it should be. He said the driver then asked for cash payment and did not provide a receipt.
Comments on the post claimed other victims who took rides from the same vehicle were charged up to 140 Singapore for rides that would otherwise cost about a third of the amount.
Uber Singapore confirmed Monday that the driver's vehicle was not registered with them, and said it filed reports against him to the police.
The U.S.-headquartered company only allows its registered drivers to accept bookings made through its app, and payments are cashless.
The Land Transport Authority said in a statement it had impounded the man's vehicle and was investigating the case.
A police spokesman or woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that a 29-year-old man was assisting its investigations, although the police official didn't confirm that the man was indeed the suspected driver.
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