‘Uber’ Urban Escape Hack

This is a modified version of the classic taxi escape method. Where you would hop into an on-duty taxi (that happened to be in vicinity) to lose a tail.

For example: You’re being chased by a hostile on foot in the streets at night or day, busy or deserted. When you see a taxi close to you, you hail it then escape.

It’s an effective strategy to get distance from your pursuer on an asymmetric scale, but is unreliable in availability and predictability – you don’t know when or where a taxi will be, or if it will be on-duty.

So it’s a tactic of chance, something you can’t and shouldn’t solely rely on as an exit strategy.

The ‘Uber’ Urban Escape Hack uses that same concept but adds the ability to plan, control and further strategize with greater efficacy.

Instead of looking for a random taxi in a random location at a random time, it’s booking a specific taxi to be picked up in a specific location at a specific time.

It’s the control over timing and locality.

    Scenario 1 :

You’re being chased by a hostile team on foot through a moderately busy city during the day. This team is about a half-block distance away from you and keeping at that steady distance. You and the team’s pace is equally steady, only slightly faster than the bystanders, as not to alert unwanted attention.

The hostile team are waiting for a less crowded area to engage you, so you have a certain but limited amount of cityscape to make a move.

While keeping steady pace through the streets, you book an Uber. But you change the pick up point to an address about 5 minutes directly ahead of you, specifically on the right side of the road and in front of the traffic light (the street corner).

You time it so that you’ll arrive about 2 minutes late, to give the driver enough time to settle into the spot.

Now just a single block away, you see the Uber car pulling into the corner at the end of the street.

When you get to the pick up point, your Uber is waiting with the door unlocked. You get in. The hostiles realizing what’s happening, rush to you. But the light turns red so they assume they’ll have a moment to forcibly extract you from the vehicle.

It’s a red light, but since you’re on the right side, the driver takes the turn, bypassing the red. You’re ghost.

    Scenario 2 :

You’re at a diner in the outskirts of the city at 1 in the morning. Half way through your meal you realize there’s a hostile sitting behind you, observing you.

Looking out the diner window, you notice there’s 2 men by the bus stop chain smoking across the street and what appears to be repeated glances to the hostile.

This diner is popular at this time of night because the last bus into the city is just outside and about to arrive. The hostiles know this so they’re waiting for you to leave to get on the bus as you do – to engage you later on at a different location.

While finishing your meal, you book an Uber. You make the pick up point to just behind where the bus will be parked momentarily as passengers get in.

The bus schedule says it arrives at 1:27am, and at this time of night, it won’t be a minute late. So you time the Uber to arrive at 1:29am, parking right behind the bus.

After paying for the food you walk over to the bus stop but don’t get in line just yet. The 3 hostiles, as a ruse, do get in line (knowing you will also). Once there’s a few people behind the hostiles, then you get in line – to create a margin of separation.

At 1:27am the bus drives up and starts letting people in. With the line moving along, the hostiles pay and are now in the bus with a few people in front of you.

At 1:31am your Uber finally arrives and parks right behind the bus. You get off the line and jump into the Uber. The hostiles seeing you skate, show visible signs of anger and attempt to leave the crowded bus.

Your Uber car drives off. You’re ghost.

For more advanced or necessary escape and evasion measures, calling the police has its uses. They can be used to run interference or as the actual ride. More on these tactics will be posted on other intel.

Public transportation is a viable option but carries much potential risk and must fit a very specific scenario to work well. Hostiles can just as easily get on the same bus, train or on the same line.

If not, they can analyze the route that you got on and follow it in other ways, such as other transportation.

Also, with an Uber or similar service, unlike public transportation, you have control over the route, destination and to a certain extent, speed.