Yesterday, ride-sharing and ride-hailing platform Ryde released a statement on its Facebook page about 300 fake accounts and 2000 “phantom” RydeX (private-hire) trip bookings created. They also added that the loss of income borne by drivers exceeded S$50,000.
Ryde said that the attacks have increased since mid-May, over 6 weeks.
In their statement, they also added, “After investigations, Ryde has found compelling digital evidence that point to IP addresses 119.73.221.76, 128.199.213.100 and 49.213.16.0 as the source of these accounts. Digital evidence indicate that a majority of these fake accounts and “phantom bookings” originated from locations in Midview City and The Herencia”.
Coincidentally, these are two locations that ride-hailing app Grab operates from.
Ryde explains that this is a breach of their Terms of Use, Item No. 7 (use of Services to cause nuisance, annoyance, inconvenience or make fake bookings). They state that, “Ryde does not condone such acts of misrepresentation that threaten the livelihood of drivers”.
On June 26, Ryde also lodged a police report against the attacks to bring such unlawful acts to light and notified the relevant authorities, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS), the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Upon contacting Grab, a spokesperson told TISG, “Grab is currently investigating the matter” and declined to comment further.
In the meanwhile, netizens speculate.