Why do these criminals think that they'll rob people and they won't be punished? Maybe they'll get lucky for the first time but they do it regularly, they'll definitely get caught one day and I'm glad that this person got caught.
Btw as it seems, it's dangerous to talk about Bitcoin with strangers and in this case, with Taxi drivers. It's also dangerous to give your smartphone to strangers, no matter what kind of help they need. In my region, it's common when a kid or adult strangers ask you to give your smartphone to them to make a call and then they give you back but from this day, I'll be more careful about this. I want to help people in this situation because I've also been in such a situation but criminals are getting terrible every day.

Or a tale to create some fuzz.
In any case, if it's true - we can learn some things from this story, though it wouldn't be related to crypto - just don't trust random drivers of Uber 

And then he threatened him into not telling about the situatuon as a whole.
Maybe he did analyze his victim - or he just played it all out on luck.
We would never know. But it sounds like he did, indeed.

The victim can take a lesson or two in being secure about his gadgets in the wrong hands.
With such logic, a robber could of drained anything else in his phone at the moment - due to it having to features of security in check at all at the moment of the incident.

I'm still surprised as the story and articles seems unclear to me. How was the driver able to know which passenger had these assetsbin their device or he studies his passengers before they arrive for pick up?.but then there's nothing impossible when it comes t thief's and hackers. They can go extra miles beyond our normal thinking to make sure they get what they want from others and the best way for us to avoid being victims is by being vigilant and smart. Dont store your coins on just any random device you use. You can have separate device you store your coins and then leave that device at home. Again, try to encrypt your wallet apps with passwords. And not just any random password but a strong password that would be difficult for just anyone to get their hands on. Probably this would help reduce the rate at which physical threat might be on an increase.

The article says Hussein pretended to be the Uber driver the victims had booked, who does not check the model, color and plate number of the ride they booked on the app before entering, and how was Hussein able to know their names or that they had even booked rides in the first place.

There are a lot of questions that the article does not answer, however, don't store your funds in a centralized exchange and don't move around with your funds in a mobile phone. You can be a victim of a $5 wrench attack if you are not careful.

I suspect this is not the first time dear ‘Hussein’ has attempted to steal bitcoins from unsuspecting customers. This story is a lesson to those who do not take their phone and wallet security seriously. And also to those who believe hot wallets are the best storage for their coins. Move your bitcoins to a hardware wallet, if you cannot afford one make sure the mobile device you have your hot wallet is not the same one you use for calls or internet.

I am very paranoid when a stranger asks me my phone. I wonder how do these people simply gave away their phones to the Uber driver.
In the current world, our whole life lies on our phone and simply giving it away, even just for a few seconds can turn out to be disastrous just like how it happened with these people.
I am fortunate to have enough knowledge to protect myself from these simple mistakes but people need to improve their skills and protect themselves too.

That was the biggest mistake on part of the owner. He fails to add an extra layer of security so that any transaction made without permission will not succeed. He now learned his lesson, but it takes losing all his crypto assets before he'll realize his lapses. Or if only he used another phone for his crypto, then he'll never encounter that traumatic experience.