A woman’s unsettling experience involving her brother’s Uber ride has taken the internet by storm.
TikTok user Haylee (@h0spade) shared the story in a viral video that has amassed 18.8 million views at the time of writing, leaving viewers shocked and confused.
What happened to this family?
The video begins with Haylee sitting and getting ready for her first day at work.
“Pov: your getting ready for your first day at work and then someone tries to buy your brother 10 minutes after he gets in an Uber,” she wrote in the video’s text overlay.
Moments later, Haylee’s mom bursts into the room with a phone in hand, seemingly on a call with someone.
She hands the phone to Haylee and asks, “Did you pick up my child? Why are you calling me from his phone?”
What follows is nothing short of bizarre. A voice on the other end of the call, speaking in broken English, replies, “I want to buy child [incoherent] marketplace.” Both women appear visibly stunned.
Haylee then takes control of the call, urging the person, “Please bring him. Can you come back? We could talk about it in person.” The person responds, “Sorry, I don’t understand.”
Haylee instructs as she leaves the room, “Come back to the location where you picked him up.”
Moments later, she rushes back to grab the phone she’s filming with, visibly horrified. “Oh my [expletive] God,” she exclaims.
The TikToker shared an update
After commenters quickly flooded Haylee’s video with demands for an update, the TikToker finally posted the story of what happened on Friday.
“Guys, I’m really not good at telling stories,” she begins, acknowledging the confusion her initial post caused. “That’s why I wanted to wait a minute so that I could put together a video that makes sense.”
She explained that her rushed storytelling led some viewers to misunderstand the situation, sparking wild theories online.
In the update, Haylee revealed that her brother was safe and the call wasn’t from the Uber driver after all.
“It wasn’t the Uber driver. It was a spam call,” she clarified.
According to Haylee, someone had spoofed her brother’s phone number to make the call appear as if it was coming from him. “We believed it,” she concluded.
What could be behind the spam call?
Right now, it’s unclear what the caller’s ultimate intention was, as the TikToker didn’t provide any more details.
However, spam calls involving children are not uncommon.
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Advice, scammers often pretend to be a loved one in trouble—such as a child, niece, or another underage family member—to request money.
These scammers typically urge the recipient to keep it a “secret,” preventing them from consulting other family members and realizing it’s a scam.
The FTC advises against reacting immediately, suggesting instead that you hang up and call back or, if the situation feels urgent, ask specific questions to confirm you’re actually speaking to a family member.
@h2spade the back of my head is non of my business ?
♬ original sound - h
Viewers react
In the comments section, some viewers joked about the situation while others demanded answers. Some viewers also praised Haylee for the way she handled the interaction.
“If it was my brother, I’d at least hear their offer first,” joked one viewer.
“The way u immediately knew to say let's talk about this and took control of the situation,” wrote another. “well done.”
“GURLLLL WHERE IS HE?!” exclaimed a third. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Haylee via TikTok comment and direct message. It also contacted Uber via email.
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