CLARK COUNTY, Ohio — A new scam is impacting rideshare drivers and older adults in central Ohio. David Young, a Lyft driver for the past six and a half years said he’s never encountered a scam like this until recently.
"People do all these scams all the time, but not a lot of them put people’s lives in danger like this one,” Young said.
Young said his experience is similar to an incident in Clark County several weeks ago.
According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, 81-year-old William Brock received threatening scam calls on March 25. Then, Loletha Hall, an Uber driver, pulled up in front of his home. The sheriff’s office said she also received communication from the same person, or an accomplice, through the Uber app for her to pick up a package for delivery.
When Young read about what happened to Hall, he said he was stunned.
"I was just talking to my wife I said, 'oh my gosh, this is the same thing that happened to me,'” Young said.
Hall then made contact with Brock to ask about the package, which is when he held her at gunpoint, believing she was in on the scam. When she attempted to go back to her car, Brock shot her three times. He then called 911, but Hall did not survive.
According to a statement sent to 10TV’s CBS-affiliate station WHIO, Uber stated:
“There is no other way to describe this incident than a horrific tragedy. Our hearts continue to be with Loletha’s loved ones as they grieve her sudden loss. We have been in contact with law enforcement and remain committed to supporting their investigation.”
"That person was just doing their job, so was I,” Young said.
As for Young, his incident happened just two days before the one in Clark County. He said he accepted a ride request to pick up a passenger in Delaware to take them to Springfield, also located in Clark County. As he made his way to Delaware, he received messages from the passenger asking him to stop on the way to pick up documents.
"I come to a red light, he sent three or four of them, about, 'oh just pick these up is it a problem', and I said, 'I'm almost there, we can discuss that when we get there,'” Young said.
When Young arrived at the home in Delaware, he was approached by the homeowner and two of his neighbors. The homeowner asked Young to get out of the car and tried to grab him. Young got back in his car as the homeowner proceeded to yell curse words at him, claiming Young was there to pick up $5,000 to get his grandson out of jail in Cleveland.
That information came from a phone call the homeowner had just received from someone trying to scam him. He believed Young was part of it. Eventually, Young called 911 and the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, helping to clear up the miscommunication.
As it turns out, Young and the homeowner were each targeted by the same person or an accomplice.
"Had I reacted differently, maybe fought, he could've had a gun too, I don't know,” Young said.
Now Young hopes sharing his story serves as a warning for others to be cautious, whether or not you’re a rideshare driver or just receiving a suspicious phone call.
"Especially if you're just doing rides like I am, if you're getting text messages to pick up a package, if I were you, I'd just cancel that call,” Young said.
Lyft sent the following statement to 10TV in response to the incident:
“This behavior is unacceptable and not tolerated on the Lyft platform. We permanently removed the individual’s account who requested the ride from the Lyft platform and assisted law enforcement with their investigation,” a Lyft spokesperson said.