Playing Hide and Seek

Technology has changed the world in wondrous ways. The internet and social media have given us access to unlimited information on virtually every possible subject we can imagine. We can find goods and services anywhere in the world, have desired products delivered to our doorsteps within hours, get medical and financial advice from "experts" non-stop...the list is endless. But as most of us know, there are many dangers lurking in the anonymity of the worldwide web. After all, who hasn't been solicited but the reigning prince of some far away country looking to hide his fortunes from plundering rebels, or attorneys from an unknown relative informing us we have a large inheritance to collect?

For O'Hare-Midway Limousine Service, Inc., it's imposter companies. It's a battle that has been taking place for decades due to the fact that O'Hare-Midway, O'Hare-Midway Limo, O'Hare-Midway Limousine Service, and a multitude of other variations were not able to be trademarked. We were only able to successfully register O'Hare-Midway Limousine Service, Inc., which is our legal name but a ponderous search term. In the seemingly distant past, individuals trying to skim our clients but calling themselves by a variation of our name could be found fairly easily. Phone numbers and addresses could generally be used to unmask the perpetrators, and legal actions could stop someone from "pretending" to be us. But times have changed, and it's getting harder to find these imposters. Case in point; there is a company that calls itself O'Hare-Midway Limo, which is just close enough to our legal name to catch a few of our clients (or potential clients) who don't use the proper search criteria. They have a flashy website and boast of having an office in the same town where our office is. Naturally I was curious, so I paid their office a visit. Except there IS no office. So I called to schedule an appointment to discuss our "relationship'. A person answered the phone as though I woke him up from a deep sleep or drunken stupor, only to greet me with a "Yeah?". I mentioned I was at his address and wanted to see if I could visit their office. The answer was an emphatic "why?". Did I need a car? Why was I calling? I just told him I wanted to know more about his company. But I received no answers other than the repeated questions about needing a ride. This is a common tale in today's ground transportation world. Just Google "fake Uber driver" for a lengthly list of stories that are both educational and informative.

There are a multitude of unlicensed and under insured individuals operating in this space playing hide and seek at the expense of unsuspecting travelers. They create websites with amazing photos of vehicles that don't exist to legitimize their operations, and use names that closely resemble legitimate companies in an effort to mislead people in to believing they have found what they were searching for. The use of Black Hat SEO helps improve website placement for these individuals (although they violate Google rules), and once they snare their unsuspecting victims, their work is done...almost. We haven't gotten to the part where the victim willingly hands over their credit card information thinking they are working with a legitimate operation. No one really knows where that information ends up going, but I assure you...it's not where you would want it.

There are a few red flags that will alert you to an imposter company. The first and most obvious is how they answer their phones. Since they are typically scamming from multiple operators, they typically answer the phone with "limo service" or just "hello". Their greeting will not identify the company, because frankly there isn't one. Demanding that you pay cash is another red flag, although less common these days. I mean...even a neighborhood lemonade stand can take credit cards these days. An inability to provide details about their company, rates, types of vehicles, and other details should also be concerning. It is common with imposter companies however, since they literally take your information and float it out to a network of individuals who will basically bid on it for a portion of the price you were charged. This type of activity was considered illegal in the past. It's essentially "hustling", which was banned from most major cities and airports years ago due to safety concerns. Yet thanks to technology, it has been transformed in to a weird sort of shadowy legitimacy.

As far as our recent imposter is concerned, we did a little digging and followed some crumbs only to discover that he or they are based in India. At least that's where the money goes. We have notified our client base through multiple emails to make them aware this situation exists, but every now and then we receive a call from one of our clients wanting an explanation for a massive overcharge, or to get compensation for a vehicle that was charged for yet never showed up. After doing our research, it always ends up being someone that wanted to book with us, but used Google and some abbreviated form of O'Hare-Midway Limousine Service, Inc., which led them down the dark path to getting ripped off. It's why we rebranded to OML Worldwide Transportation. Easier and less prone to copycats, although nothing is really safe anymore.

Gone are the days where fair competition existed in the transportation industry. You can spend decades building your company and reputation, only to have someone come along and steal business from you using shady practices, and there is little legal recourse. Perhaps when our company was founded in 1956, the name O'Hare-Midway was a perfect choice, reflecting the two airports we served almost exclusively. However, who would have predicted back then that we would end up playing hide and seek with phantoms over 7,000 miles away?