I spent around 2 years in different countries in South America before this and I guarantee you the situation was worth without uber. Getting scammed was guaranteed, I was consistently more concerned about getting robbed or killed. 90% of the stories I heard of people getting robbed in South America were from cab drivers. Chloroform rags being tossed in the back seat, Guns pulled, Driving to a bad part of town and getting jumped by the cabbies friends, etc...