Fake Yandex.Taxi Orders Lead to Massive Traffic Jam in Moscow

On the morning of September 1, a huge traffic jam formed on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow, with an unusually high number of taxi vehicles stuck in the congestion. It was later revealed that unknown individuals had attempted to disrupt the Yandex.Taxi service by creating numerous fake ride requests in the Fili district, located in the western part of the city.

Around 11:00 AM local time, local media began reporting a serious traffic jam on Kutuzovsky Avenue, noting that the congestion was made up almost entirely of dozens of taxi cars. Taxi drivers themselves started to complain about fake orders and the fact that “everyone was sent to the same area.”

According to a statement from Yandex’s press service, the traffic jam was indeed caused by an attack on the service. The company’s security team quickly intervened to stop the artificial clustering of vehicles.

“On the morning of September 1, Yandex.Taxi faced an attempt by malicious actors to disrupt the service—dozens of drivers received mass ride requests to the Fili district. Drivers spent about 40 minutes in the traffic jam caused by these fake orders. The issue of compensation will be resolved in the very near future. Now, the taxis have left the area and are operating as usual,” Yandex representatives said.

The company also emphasized that their detection and prevention algorithms have been improved to prevent similar incidents in the future.