DC woman alleged her Uber driver tried to scam her on the way to an airport in Cairo, Egypt: ‘Bad reviews started from the Bible’
Her friend had to scream for help.
Tiana (@legacyqueenceo) from Washington, DC, traveled to Cairo, Egypt. Despite having seen the Great Pyramid of Giza, Tiana alleged that her Uber driver tried to scam her on the way to the airport.
“Y’all, I will never ever go to Cairo, Egypt, again. Literally everywhere I turned around, somebody was trying to run a scam,” Tiana told TikTok. She recorded the incident with her former Uber driver.
“This is our Uber driver here in Egypt. He won’t take us to the airport. He said we have to go ahead and pay him extra money in order for him to take us to the airport,” Tiana alleged. On top of what she prepaid on the Uber app, Tiana alleged the man wanted additional cash. Even this New York City man’s tipping confrontation couldn’t compare to Tiana’s scenario.
But just as she was recording, the Uber driver tried to grab her phone. Tiana put her phone away, and another friend shouted “no” at him.
“Take us to the airport!” her friend said. Tiana also told her Uber driver to cancel the ride if he couldn’t take them to their destination. Tiana said, “You cannot have us here, stuck in your car. So, cancel our Uber, or take us to the airport.”
Escaping a supposed Uber scam
The man muttered, “No cancel,” and started driving again. Tiana asked where he was taking them, and the man didn’t immediately respond. Eventually, he said, “I don’t speak English.”
Tiana wrote of the incident, “I didn’t trust we were going to the airport since I heard stories of them taking people to ATMs and forcing them to take out money or taking people to a random building somewhere.” Meanwhile, her friend was already distrustful during the ride.
“He’s gonna drop us off in the middle of nowhere, girl,” her friend alleged. The man didn’t reply as Tiana kept asking where he was taking them. Eventually, Tiana’s friend demanded that the man open his trunk so they could take their bags. Tiana also commented that she didn’t want to be stuck somewhere far away from the hotel. Even tourists beneath popular attractions may be approached by ill-intentioned actors. One woman vacationing in Paris believes she narrowly escaped trafficking by turning down a strange modeling offer near the Eiffel Tower.
“Can we get out? Please?” Tiana asked the Uber driver, but he ignored her, continuing his phone call in Arabic. To grab the man’s attention, Tiana’s friend started screaming for help in the car.
“You cannot hold us hostage. Where’s our suitcase?” Tiana asserted. Eventually, the man caved, and he canceled the ride. However, he said, “No bags.” Tiana unloaded their bags, and her friend stayed in the car to prevent the man from driving off.
Fear of solo traveling
Tiana’s experience went viral on TikTok, with more than 800,000 views. After watching the clip, some commenters said they have been “de-influenced” from going to Egypt. Others expressed that they were not confident about solo travelling in the country.
One TikTok user wrote, “Some places you just have to pay for things like private drivers and concierge services, or go with a travel group.” Another commenter, who claimed to have traveled in Egypt, agreed, saying they also hired private drivers for the trip. But amidst concerns over travel safety, one commenter joked about Egypt, saying, “Bad reviews started from the Bible.” But this is only one hostile travel experience from Egypt. Every country has bad actors, and even some rude tourists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, had to be told off by a local photographer.
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