00:00Rideshare apps have made getting home easier than ever.
00:04But sometimes, the person behind the wheel isn't who you think they are.
00:10These are three true stories from people who trusted the wrong driver and barely made it out.
00:18Story 1. The Locked Doors
00:21Hi, I really hope you can share this because I'm still shaken.
00:26My name's Emily. I'm 21, a junior at a university in California.
00:34And something happened to me last October that I can't stop replaying in my head.
00:40I don't know who that man was, but if he's still out there, someone needs to know what he's doing.
00:48It was a Saturday night in early October, the kind where the air feels just a little too still.
00:56I'd been at an off-campus party with a few friends.
01:01Nothing crazy, just loud music, cheap drinks, and way too many people crammed into one house.
01:11Around 2 a.m., I decided to head home alone.
01:15I wasn't drunk, just buzzed enough to feel bold.
01:22I ordered an Uber, and within minutes, a black Toyota Camry pulled up.
01:29Tinted windows.
01:30The driver leaned over, smiled, and said,
01:34Emily, my name.
01:37Everything seemed normal.
01:39We drove for maybe 5 minutes before I noticed he wasn't following the GPS route on my phone.
01:47I mentioned it, and he gave this too friendly laugh.
01:51Don't worry.
01:52I know these streets better than any app.
01:55This way's faster.
01:56That's when I noticed the child locks.
02:00I reached to crack the window for some air, but it didn't budge.
02:05The doors, too, had no manual locks.
02:09My phone was at 3%, and I felt this cold pit in my stomach.
02:15Then came the questions.
02:18So do you live alone?
02:20Got a boyfriend?
02:21Anyone waiting up for you?
02:23His tone wasn't casual.
02:26It was curious in a way that made my skin crawl.
02:30I pretended to call a friend, speaking loudly.
02:34Yeah, I'll be there in 5 minutes.
02:37You'll see me pull up.
02:39Keep the porch light on.
02:40He glanced at me in the mirror, expression blank.
02:44Then he slowed down, not for a stop sign, but to look down an unlit side street.
02:50For a second, I thought he might turn.
02:54The silence inside the car was deafening.
02:57I could hear my own heartbeat.
03:00At the next red light, I saw my chance.
03:03I yanked the handle, and somehow the door opened.
03:07Maybe he unlocked it at the light.
03:10Maybe it glitched.
03:11I don't know.
03:12I threw myself out of the car into the intersection and sprinted to a gas station.
03:19As I looked back, I saw his car just sitting there.
03:23No honking, no chasing, just idling.
03:27Then without warning, he sped off.
03:30I called the police from the clerk's phone.
03:33But they couldn't do much without a plate number.
03:36And when I checked the Uber app later, there was no record of the ride.
03:43No driver.
03:44No trip.
03:46Nothing.
03:47Whoever that man was, he knew exactly what he was doing.
03:54Story 2.
03:56The stranger at the airport.
03:58Hey, I wanted to share something with you that happened to me in late 2022.
04:02I still don't really know what to make of it.
04:07Whether this guy was trying to help me, or if I narrowly avoided something much worse.
04:14It was a cold December night, close to 1 a.m.
04:18My flight into Chicago had been delayed for hours, and I was exhausted.
04:24I just wanted to get home.
04:26I opened the Uber app, ordered a ride, and stood at the nearly empty pickup zone outside the terminal.
04:35A silver SUV pulled up.
04:38Same make and model as on my phone.
04:42The driver rolled down his window, smiled, and said my name before I even asked.
04:49I tossed my bag in the back, and got in without thinking twice.
04:55At first, everything seemed normal.
04:59The guy made small talk.
05:01Where I was coming from.
05:03If I lived nearby.
05:04If I lived alone.
05:07Questions that felt polite at first, but they started to stack up in a way that didn't sit right.
05:14About 15 minutes in, I noticed something weird.
05:20My GPS still showed me circling near the airport.
05:24I wasn't moving away from it at all.
05:28I asked the driver if we were lost, but he just laughed softly and said,
05:35Bad reception out here.
05:37Don't worry.
05:38I know a faster way.
05:40That's when I realized something else.
05:42There were no signs, no lights, no other cars.
05:48Just long stretches of empty service roads.
05:52My phone battery had dipped to 4%.
05:55I started to get this gnawing feeling in my gut.
05:59Then he slowed the SUV and pulled onto an even darker road.
06:05No reflectors.
06:06No houses.
06:08Just blacktop and dead grass.
06:10He turned halfway in his seat and stared at me for a few seconds too long.
06:17Then he said, in a calm voice,
06:20This isn't your stop.
06:22But you need to get out now.
06:25My stomach dropped.
06:27I didn't argue.
06:29I just grabbed my bag and stepped out.
06:31The door shut and he sped off, disappearing into the dark without another word.
06:39I stood there in the freezing wind, completely alone.
06:43My phone barely had any charge and there was no signal.
06:48I walked for almost 20 minutes down icy sidewalks until I saw the faint glow of a gas station.
06:57Inside, I called a cab to take me home.
07:01Later, when I checked the Uber app, it showed the driver had cancelled the ride before even picking me up.
07:08Whoever that man was, he knew my name, my destination, even the car I was expecting.
07:16I still can't figure out if he was warning me about someone else or if he was the danger himself and just changed his mind at the last minute.
07:26Story 3. The Hacked Account
07:30Hi, my name's Jenna.
07:33I'm 19 and I sent this story to you because I still can't sleep some nights thinking about it.
07:40I need people to hear what happened to me because I almost didn't make it home.
07:46Last summer, I was house-sitting for my aunt in a quiet suburban neighborhood while she was on vacation.
07:53One night, around 11 p.m., I ordered an Uber to meet a friend downtown.
08:01The driver's profile matched perfectly.
08:04Same car, same name, even the same smiling profile picture.
08:10I hopped in without hesitation.
08:13At first, everything felt normal.
08:16But after a few minutes, the driver casually mentioned a photo I'd posted on Instagram the day before.
08:25A private post only close friends could see.
08:28Then he said my dog's name.
08:31I froze.
08:32I'd never mentioned it to him.
08:34Never mentioned it in my Uber profile either.
08:37I pulled out my phone and checked the app.
08:41My heart sank.
08:42According to the Uber map, the car hadn't moved at all.
08:48It still showed us sitting at my pickup spot.
08:51Whoever this man was, he wasn't the real driver.
08:55He'd hacked the account.
08:58Trying not to panic, I laughed nervously and said,
09:02Oh, you must follow me?
09:04He just smiled in the rearview mirror and said,
09:07I know a lot more than that.
09:09I quickly texted my friend a single word.
09:14Help.
09:15I told the driver I needed to stop at a gas station to grab gum before meeting my friend.
09:21He didn't question it.
09:23As soon as we pulled in, I bolted, yanked the door open, sprinted inside,
09:30and locked myself in the bathroom.
09:32For the next ten minutes,
09:34I heard him circling the parking lot.
09:38At one point, I heard his footsteps in the convenience store.
09:42He was asking the clerk if anyone had seen his sister.
09:47I stayed dead silent, standing on the toilet, so he couldn't see my feet.
09:53Eventually, I heard screeching tires.
09:57He was gone.
09:58When I called Uber, they confirmed their driver's account had been compromised.
10:05But they wouldn't tell me if they caught the man,
10:08or how he knew so much about me.
10:12To this day, I still get friend requests from random accounts with his same smiling face.
10:20I don't know if it's him.
10:23I don't know what he wanted.
10:25But I do know this.
10:28I triple-check every car I get into now.
10:33Three strangers.
10:34Three nights they'll never forget.
10:37And maybe, after hearing these stories,
10:41neither will you.
10:43If these real-life nightmares kept you watching till the end,
10:47leave a like so I know you made it through the darkness.
10:50And if you never want to walk alone in the night without a story in your ears,
10:55hit subscribe.
10:57I've got more waiting in the shadows.
11:00Until then, lock your doors, check twice,
11:04and never trust the smile in the rearview mirror.
11:07I'll see you next time.
11:08I'll see you next time.
11:08Bye-bye.
11:09Bye-bye.
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