Two men, Trayon Morgan and Roy Blackwood, have been arrested in Florida following an eight-month-long investigation into a fraud scheme targeting ride-sharing company Uber. The men are accused of defrauding Uber out of more than $1 million by creating fake accounts and using phony and stolen names.
According to investigators, the fraud began in January 2022 and primarily took place in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Morgan allegedly used the UberEats app to act as both the customer and the courier. He would place a grocery order under a fake account, accept the order as the courier, and then use a pre-authorized and pre-loaded credit card provided by Uber to make the purchase. Morgan could make purchases of up to $700 in a single transaction. Afterward, he would cancel the order as the consumer and buy a gift card using the Uber credit card.
Blackwood allegedly assisted Morgan by driving him to various Walgreens stores to commit the fraud. Detectives conducting a surveillance operation on January 24 observed Morgan and Blackwood visiting 27 different Walgreens locations, resulting in a loss of $5,013.28 for Uber in a single day.
Morgan reportedly created multiple fake accounts to sustain the fraudulent activity and often used stolen and fabricated identities of Uber drivers, altering their license information with his own photo. With the assistance of Uber and investigative techniques, detectives confirmed Morgan’s involvement with the fake accounts.
Arrest warrants were issued for Morgan and Blackwood on August 7. Blackwood was arrested by Palm Beach Gardens police on August 16, while detectives apprehended Morgan on August 22 in Tamarac. Both individuals are facing charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.
Author: Ryan Scott
Just a guy
