FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two Florida men are accused of stealing at least $1 million from Uber EAts by acting both as a customer and a delivery driver, authorities said.
Trayon Morgan, 21, of Lauderhill, was arrested Tuesday and faces charges of an organized scheme to defraud and grand theft, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
An accomplice who allegedly worked with Morgan, Roy Blackwood, 38, of Sunrise, was arrested in Palm Beach Gardens on Aug. 16 on the same charges, according to the newspaper.
Broward man arrested, suspected of taking more than $1 million from Uber in organized scheme https://t.co/beDPMP3qYF pic.twitter.com/xnlI2LRAdR
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 26, 2023
According to a news release from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the scheme began in January 2022. It involved both men using phony accounts or fake names, WTVJ reported.
Investigators said that Morgan, using Uber Eats, would place a grocery order posing as a customer under a fake account, according to the Sun-Sentinel. He would then accept the order at a Walgreens as the Uber Eats courier, the newspaper reported.
The Uber Eats driver normally goes into the store and buys the items that a customer ordered, using a prepaid credit card distributed by Uber to purchase the groceries, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
But instead of buying the items, Morgan would cancel the order in his role as a bogus customer. Within minutes, he would enter the store and buy gift cards, using the money on the prepaid credit card.
According to the sheriff’s office, on Jan. 24, 2023, detectives observed Morgan and Blackwood visit 27 different Walgreens stores, committing fraud that totaled $5,013.28 in losses for Uber that day.
Detectives said that on one occasion, Morgan ordered 35 bottles of Tide liquid laundry detergent, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Authorities said Blackwood would drive Morgan to different Walgreens stores to commit the alleged fraud, according to WTVJ.
Investigators traced Morgan’s identity to other fake accounts, the Sun-Sentinel reported. According to court records, the accounts were traced to 800 trips, with most of them in Florida. The thefts occurred in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Orange and Polk counties, and as far north as South Georgia, according to the newspaper.
