Woman warns unsuspecting rideshare passengers after ‘dangerous situation’ at Melbourne Airport

A Melbourne influencer and former Love Island star endured a terrifying ordeal at the airport this weekend when a driver tried to rip her off mid-journey.

Emily Ward, 26, said she had just landed at Tullamarine Airport and was on her way to visit her family when the driver canceled her trip and asked for a ‘bank transfer’.

Ward detailed the ordeal in a TikTok video, saying she “freaked out” when he tried to drive away with her still in the car when they weren’t being “tracked” by the app.

“The car starts to drive away and then I get a notification on my phone saying the driver has canceled and I’m being paired with another driver,” she said.

“I immediately report this to (the driver) and I say, ‘Hey, this is what’s happening, maybe you accidentally hit cancel.’ This is where (the scam) starts.”

Emily went on to say that the driver said to her: ‘It must be an error with the app, I just confirmed your address, did you perhaps press something?’

“He keeps insisting that it’s something I must have done or that the app made a mistake, but actually there’s a problem,” she explained.

“This is where I’m really starting to get scared because right now all my belongings are in this man’s car.

“I’m strapped into this man’s car as he tries to slowly drive it out of the airport pick-up area. I’m alone and now my ride isn’t being tracked.’

Ward, 26, said she had just landed at Tullamarine Airport and was on her way to visit her family when the driver canceled her trip and asked for a ‘bank transfer’.

Emily said the driver then asked her to “transfer the fare to him” because she was “already in his car.”

Despite his insistence that it would be ‘easier’ to simply continue with the journey, Emily demanded to be let out of the vehicle with her belongings.

‘As a woman on my own, I start to panic in such a situation. You get a gut feeling that something is wrong,” she said.

The driver relented after a few minutes of arguing and ‘guilt feelings’, but Emily was shocked to see him rip off another unsuspecting passenger after her.

Emily said when she realized someone else was being scammed by the driver, she reported a police officer who told the driver to leave without picking up a passenger.

At that point, Emily suspected she knew what the driver was trying to do, and said he might want to avoid the ride-sharing fee and pocket the full fare.

“I feel guilty because I just ruined this man’s scam because he’s trying to make more money for himself, but at the same time it’s so illegal and so dangerous,” Emily said.

‘He would absolutely lose his license. “I’m still considering reporting him because he would lose his driver’s license and his entire source of income.”