- Some Uber drivers in Lagos are reportedly using an app called Lockito to inflate ride fares
- Uber Nigeria is aware of the abuse of Lockito by certain drivers and are on the lookout to arrest violators
There are reports that some Uber drivers in Lagos have been using a fake GPS itinerary app called Lockito to illicitly inflate fares for local riders.
The app initially created for developers to “test geofencing-based apps,” Lockito, that lets your phone follow a fake GPS itinerary, is now being used by Uber drivers in Lagos to inflate the cost of their trips.
Revealing how the app works, Mohammed, a driver for both Uber and Taxify in Lagos said: “It sets the false GPS movement while allowing the phone also to keep track of its actual movement. The Uber app can’t tell the difference between both so it just calculates both.”
READ ALSO: The anti-open grazing law is a ‘time bomb’ - Herdsmen
According to an investigative report by Quartz Africa, when a driver uses Lockito for an Uber trip he or she can have the fake GPS running (and calculating a fake fare) from the pickup point to the drop off location, before the passenger has even got into the car. When the real trip starts, the real GPS starts running and calculating the actual fare. But at the end of the journey the fares from both trips (real and fake) are tallied up as one fare which the unsuspecting rider pays.
Uber Nigeria Spokeswoman Francesca Uriri said the use of the app is in violation of Uber’s guidelines and the company is “constantly on the lookout for fraud by drivers and riders who are gaming our systems.”
An Uber driver who asked his real name not to be used, says he heard about Lockito a while ago but initially had no interest in using it.
He said: “Uber was sweet, until they slashed the price. They did not bring back their price up, so the work started getting tough and tougher.”
“When the thing was just getting tougher, I had no choice but to go on Lockito.”
He claims he uses the app four to five times a week, but has specific targets and does not use it on just anyone.
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
Meanwhile, Hammed Olojo, a 31-year-old Uber driver, on Sunday, August 27, was restrained by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) on patrol of Third Mainland Bridge from jumping into the lagoon.
Olojo had driven himself to the bridge in a Toyota Corolla saloon car, written a short note, left it in the car and was about to jump, when he was stopped by the officers who had monitored him for a while.
Top 4 modern corruption cases in Nigeria - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng