Add CategoryA man was left bloodied and bruised and allegedly had $12,600 swiped from his bank accounts by a man accused of posing as an Uber driver after he was lured into the fake rideshare car outside a Melbourne bar.
Muhammad Umer, 22, allegedly preyed on intoxicated revellers outside bars in Chapel Street, Prahran by offering them a lift home or convincing them he was the Uber they ordered.
NCA NewsWire understands Umer even had an Uber identification sticker on his car to help him in his alleged deceit.
Once the victims were in the fake Uber, police allege Umer stole their credit cards and even obtained PIN numbers to make purchases, such as gift cards, and withdraw money totalling more than $75,000 from 14 alleged victims.
Umer also allegedly picked up victims in Brunswick, the CBD, Fitzroy and Northcote.
Uber would not confirm if Umer was ever a registered driver with the company, telling NCA NewsWire they couldn’t comment on an open case, so it’s unclear how Umer obtained the sticker.
A Hawthorn man, 44, who asked to be called Tre, told NCA NewsWire he didn’t remember what happened after he got in the fake Uber, but he woke up the next morning with blood on his head and a large lump.
His bank account had also been emptied and $12,600 stolen.
Tre said when he walked out of the bar about 11.30pm on March 18 there was a car there with an Uber sticker.
The 44-year-old said the driver may have offered him a lift but he couldn’t remember.
“I’ve never blacked out in my life, my memory is completely black,” he said.
“I was still in the back of his car, blacked out while he went around all these ATMs taking money out.”
Tre said his wife had called him during the trip and the driver answered his phone, with him even asking her to reveal her husband’s PIN number after claiming his payment hadn’t gone through.
The following day, March 19, Umer allegedly preyed on another unsuspecting customer on their way home from a night out on Chapel Street.
The Ringwood man, 26, also had his credit cards stolen which were allegedly used to make unauthorised purchases worth more than $12,000.
Victoria Police spokeswoman, Sergeant Megan Stefanec, said Umer was arrested at a house in Jacana Ave, Dallas on April 23.
Umer, of Thomastown, was charged with three counts of theft, 31 counts of obtaining property by deception and three counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Sergeant Stefanec said detectives had since identified a further four alleged victims from the Monash area in Melbourne’s east.
She said a total of $10,000 was allegedly fleeced from those four alleged victims during March, with Umer charged with a further 31 offences of theft, associated deceptions and driving offences.
Umer, who migrated from Pakistan on a student visa, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he was refused bail and remanded to appear again on June 15.
Magistrate John Hardy described the alleged offending as “serious” and said it preyed on “vulnerable and unsuspecting members of the community … who through tiredness, intoxication or both, lost consciousness”.
Mr Hardy said there was a “real risk” Umer would abscond interstate or overseas if released, even though he offered to surrender his passport.
Court documents released to NCA NewsWire revealed a further three alleged victims had been identified in the Moorabbin, Brunswick and Maribyrnong areas.
The documents showed Umer was also facing more pending charges after allegedly fleecing three men and two women out of more than $34,000 during January and February.
Uber said it invested in technology to increase accountability and transparency in transportation but for it to be effective, riders need to be in the right car.
The company said they provided driver photos in the app so customers could confirm it was the right person picking them up, and encouraged riders to report drivers that didn’t match the photo so they could take action right away.