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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Fake Uber, Lyft Drivers Robbing Passengers At Gunpoint, Police Say

RIVER NORTH — Fake Uber and Lyft drivers are picking people up in Chicago's most upscale neighborhoods and robbing them at gunpoint, police said. 

At least five people have been robbed by fake drivers of ride-hailing services since late May in River North, the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park, police said in a community alert Wednesday. In each incident, the victim enters the vehicle believing it's the ride they requested, and are then robbed at gunpoint. 

According to police, the robberies took place in the "early morning hours" of: 

• May 28 in the 2000 block of North Halsted Street 

• June 4 in the 500 block of North Dearborn Street

• June 4 in the 1100 block of North State Street 

• June 17 in the first block of West Illinois Street 

• June 30 in the 2100 block of North Clark Street

In the State Street incident, a woman was accosted and robbed while walking on the street. 

Police have been warning users of ride-hailing services to check the name and license plate of the driver against their app before getting inside any vehicle, since these attacks are becoming more common. 

At a Lincoln Park public safety forum in March, officers from the Near North police district said more than a handful of people had been robbed in the winter and spring after climbing into the wrong car when the local bars close.

"It happens," Near North Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer told people in the crowd. "I read these reports."