Via iStockphoto / @diana_nluca TikTok
A Texas woman is outraged after she says a man pretended to be the Uber driver she and her friends called. He wasn't.
An Austin, Texas, woman is warning others about a man who she claims attempted to pick up her drunk friends by impersonating their Uber driver.
TikTok creator Dianis (@diana_nluca) posted the video over Labor Day weekend. The video shows a man walking down a street in downtown Austin during the evening hours.
The man is being pursued down Sixth Street by a group of women who claim he tried to pick them up moments earlier by saying he was their Uber driver.
The woman recording the video, who is presumably Dianis, yells at the man, “Hey, I thought you were my Uber.”
The man turns around but continues walking. “I’m fine,” he says.
“So where’s the car?” Dianis asks. “Why would you say that? Why would you say, ‘Hey, I’m your Uber driver’ and then not be my Uber driver? Were you trying to…?”
The man seemingly confirms Dianis’ version of events. “Break the ice? Yeah. I like your outfit,” he says to another woman in the group.
‘Welcome To Stardom’
Dianis says, “So you’re just a weirdo trying to pick up girls when they’re drunk, not realizing that not everybody is drunk, right?”
At that point, the man turns around and motions for the women to pass him on the sidewalk. Dianis tells him he’s on video, and he’s “gonna be famous.” At this comment, the man blows the camera a kiss, asking, “How many followers do you have?” before walking away.
Dianis isn’t fazed. “This is gonna go viral,” she predicts. “Austin, Texas. Creepy men trying to pick up women saying they’re Uber drivers, because they’re thinking you’re drunk. Welcome to stardom.”
Did Anyone End Up Seeing The Video? Spoiler Alert: Yes
In the comments section of the video, viewers contradicted the man’s claim that the woman’s video wouldn’t go far and wide.
“ATX here! Thanks for sharing,” wrote one viewer.
“Watching from France,” a second person said. “He’s viral.”
“Shared with my daughter. Thank you,” a third person wrote.
Another person wrote, “Thank you, queen, for being a girl’s girl and saving other girls. We love your or your active duty.”
At least a couple of commenters attempted to defend the man. “What if he was just trying to flirt and failed?” one person asked.
A second person called it “a bad icebreaker.”
Is It Illegal To Pose As An Uber Driver?
It can absolutely be a crime to pose as an Uber driver and attempt to pick up a passenger, and some states, like North Carolina, specifically forbid it. Even if there’s not a specific statute mentioning rideshare drivers, this behavior can lead to other criminal charges.
For instance, a Texas man was arrested in 2015 after he posed as an Uber driver and then attempted to hug a Texas Christian University student. Last year, a Lubbock man was charged with kidnapping and evading arrest after pretending to be an Uber driver, picking up two women, and then fleeing police.
Uber offers several safety tips on its site. The company urges customers to always double-check their rides before hopping inside.”
To do this, Uber says to match “the license plate, car make and model, and driver photo with what’s provided in your app.”
Uber warns that trips “can only be requested through the app, so never get in a car where the vehicle or driver identity doesn’t match what’s displayed in your app.”
In addition to this, Uber recommends that customers have drivers confirm their name. “To safely exchange names, you can ask, ‘Who are you here to pick up?’ The driver may also ask you to confirm their name for their own peace of mind,” it suggests.
BroBible contacted Dianis via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.