Plugin Allows Didi Chuxing Drivers to Fake Location, Filter for Distance
Sina Tech, 4/20/16
Drivers for mobile taxi booking and car hire app Didi Chuxing have been using a third-party plugin, "Didi Shenqi," to snatch fares, revealed a taxi driver to Sina Tech News. When a Didi Chuxing driver installs the plugin, he can override the app's location function such that he appears to be in some other area - normally a high traffic area, such as a train station - than he really is, and to accept rides from users in that area. This not only helps net him more rides, but also increases his ride acceptance rate. The app also allows drivers to filter for longer distance fares.
Sina Tech News searched Alibaba Group's (NYSE: BABA) C2C e-commerce site Taobao for "Didi Shenqi" and found roughly ten different sellers of the hacking software. The sellers require the purchase transaction to be outside of the Taobao platform, which is almost always an indicator of malfeasance. The software requires a jailbroken iPhone or rooted Android to work. The Taobao sellers reported that they sell about 20 copies of the software per day, and that figure does not preclude other sales channels.
A spokesperson for Didi Kuaidi, operator of Didi Chuxing, said that use of unauthorized fare hacking software disrupts the Didi Chuxing platform, and harms the interests and experience of both drivers and passengers. Any drivers caught using such software will have their accounts permanently deleted.
Keywords: scandal wireless Didi Kuaidi car hire app Didi Chuxing scam taxi booking app
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