Pair Use Fake Identities to Scam Uber Eats Out of $1M

Two men suspected of defrauding Uber Eats out of over $1 million by posing as customers and couriers have been arrested in Florida.

Broward County Sheriff's Office said Friday it had detained Trayon Morgan and Roy Blackwood over a scheme stretching back to January 2022 to scam the ride-share app.

21-year-old Morgan, from Lauderhill, allegedly spearheaded the scheme, using fake identities on the Uber Eats app to pose both as a customer and a courier.

Police said he would place a grocery order as a customer, then accept his own order as a courier under a different name.

The company gives its couriers pre-loaded credit cards to make purchases up to $700. Rather than buy items on the list, Morgan would cancel the order as the customer and then purchase a gift card with the pre-loaded credit card Uber provided to the fake courier identity.

The sheriff's office said 38-year-old Blackwood was the driver, taking Morgan to different Walgreens stores to commit the fraud.

One one day in January 2023, the pair travelled to 27 different Walgreens, taking over $5,000 from Uber.

Investigators said Morgan created multiple fake identities to keep up the fraud, including stealing the identities of real Uber drivers and using his photo instead for his I.D.

With help from Uber, investigators were able to confirm Morgan was behind the accounts and arrest warrants for the pair were issued August 7.

Blackwood, from Sunrise, FL, was arrested August 16 while Morgan was detained August 22. Both face charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.