Florida Men Accused of Scamming $1 Million from Uber Eats in Elaborate Scheme

Florida Men Accused of Scamming $1 Million from Uber Eats in Elaborate Scheme

Two men from Florida have been accused of stealing over $1 million from Uber Eats through a scheme in which they posed as both customers and delivery drivers, as per authorities.

A 21-year-old named Trayon Morgan, hailing from Lauderhill, was taken into custody on Tuesday. He is facing charges of organized fraud and grand theft, as reported by the Sun-Sentinel.

Morgan’s alleged accomplice, Roy Blackwood, aged 38 and from Sunrise, was apprehended on August 16 in Palm Beach Gardens on identical charges, the newspaper informed.

As per a news release from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, this operation began in January 2022. The two men reportedly employed fake accounts and aliases for their activities, as mentioned in a report by WTVJ.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, Morgan used Uber Eats to place grocery orders, pretending to be a customer via a counterfeit account. He would then assume the role of an Uber Eats driver and accept the order at a Walgreens store.

Ordinarily, an Uber Eats driver would enter the store, utilize a prepaid credit card provided by Uber to purchase the ordered items, and then deliver them to the customer.

However, Morgan deviated from this process. Instead of fulfilling the order, he would cancel it while posing as the bogus customer. Shortly thereafter, he would return to the store, buy gift cards, and utilize the funds on the prepaid credit card.

In a specific instance noted by the sheriff’s office, on January 24, 2023, detectives witnessed Morgan and Blackwood visiting 27 different Walgreens stores, resulting in a loss of $5,013.28 for Uber due to fraudulent activities on that day.

It was reported by the Sun-Sentinel that on one occasion, Morgan ordered a substantial quantity of 35 bottles of Tide liquid laundry detergent.

Blackwood allegedly drove Morgan to various Walgreens locations to carry out these fraudulent actions, according to WTVJ.

The investigators were able to trace Morgan’s identity back to other fabricated accounts, with records indicating approximately 800 trips, the majority of which occurred in Florida.

The thefts spanned across several counties, including Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Polk, and even extended as far north as South Georgia, the newspaper disclosed.

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