Lime E-Scooters, Modified to Shout Sexual Messages

Recently, Lime Scooters shocked a few users, after a virus modified the voice function on the devices to blare sexual messages to people.

The incident affected at least 8 e-Scooters in Brisbane, and some people recorded the malfunctioning devices playing offensive messages when they logged in.

Among the offensive messages was ‘Ok, if you’re going to ride my a** then please pull my hair, ok?’ or ‘Don’t take me around, because I don’t like to be ridden.‘ Another scooter said ‘No, where you go?‘ when the ride was over.

Apparently, the vandal broke into the audio file port, without accessing the scooter’s operating system.

Also read: ✍Too Drunk to Ride? Lime’s Electric Scooters Will Warn You!✍

Taylor Bennett, a spokesperson for Lime, said the company is aware of this incident: “We are aware that a few Lime scooters in Brisbane have had their audio files changed by vandals recording over the existing audio file with inappropriate and offensive speech. It’s not smart, it’s not funny and is akin to changing a ringtone”

Thankfully, the devices’ overall functionality wasn’t affected and no users were injured but this kind of incident points out the next steps that have to be taken security-wise, not just for Lime, but for smart scooters in general.