So could I effectively immobilize one of these by putting one traffic cone directly in front of it and another directly behind it, or do they have some way of determining when running over an obstacle is a worthwhile calculated risk? It seems like without any way to autonomously evade it would be pretty easy for a…

These fake cabs have been around for at least 7 years, based on my own observation. The list of ways to identify them above is missing the most obvious tell: two people sitting in the front seat and nobody in the back.