351K users suspended via anti-fraud measures: Grab

In a statement on Thursday, a Grab spokesperson said the company’s Safety and Anti-fraud teams regularly monitor and suspend accounts with fake, incomplete and unverified names. (File photo: Prachatai/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

MANILA – At least 351,000 users of the popular ridesharing platform Grab have been suspended as part of the company’s anti-fraud measures in the country.

In a statement on Thursday, a Grab spokesperson said the company’s Safety and Anti-fraud teams regularly monitor and suspend accounts with fake, incomplete and unverified names.

As part of such measures, he said the company previously sent out a warning to such users and gave them until February 22 to correctly update their information.

“Those who have failed to correctly update their profile have been suspended from the platform. Last 2019, we have already suspended more than 351,000 fake, incomplete, and invalid accounts from the platform,” the statement read.

Most recently, he said Grab has suspended a total of 856 accounts as of February of this year due to the same violations.

“The anti-fraud team has been continuously identifying multiple accounts that were created and being used by the same user. These initiatives have deterred users who use the platform with ill, fraudulent, and malicious intent,” the statement read.

He said aside from violations in relation to fraudulent names, the company also flag users who frequently cancel rides and do not show up to claim food orders for possible account suspension.

“This behavior is resulting in loss of opportunities and resources for our driver and delivery-partners,” the statement read.

He said users who regularly provide low-ratings to drivers and delivery partners without a reason can also be flagged for possible account suspension.

“Low-ratings provided to drivers- and delivery-partners can be disputed by especially if these low-ratings do not include specifics and actionable insights,” the statement said.

Earlier, Grab announced that it would suspend its “GrabShare” service in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu beginning Friday at noon in compliance with the government’s call for “social distancing.”

On Wednesday, Grab Philippines president Brian Cu tested negative for the coronavirus disease 2019 after being exposed to a Grab employee in Singapore who tested positive for the respiratory disease.