As Uber Technologies Inc. chief Travis Kalanick was preparing for an all-out push into China, he visited the country’s dominant ride-hailing company in July 2014. Mr. Kalanick suggested Uber invest in the company, the Beijing startup’s chief executive says. “His message was they had conquered the whole world and would also conquer China,” says the CEO, Cheng Wei, who headed a company named Didi Dache. Mr....
In this very comprehensive WSJ report on Uber 's fight for supremacy in China , there was one aspect that we have not reported on before : avoiding scamming for bonuses . Uber China has been offering very generous bonuses to lure drivers to their platform , but this has clearly not come without its problems as drivers now book fake rides , known as " tickets " . In brushing , the scammer will pose as both driver and rider , essentially paying themselves multiple times to rack up enough fake rides to earn a ticket , as the bonus has become more lucrative than the regular pay . Rings of scammers use specialised software bought online to rack up fake rides while they are at home , and others get calls from people offering to help them scam Uber for a fee .