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LEARN MOREPosted: 8:37 p.m. EDT Aug 25, 2023
Florida police said two men from Broward County scammed ride share giant Uber out of more than $1 million by creating fake accounts and using phony and stolen names.
Investigators say Trayon Morgan, 21, of Lauderhill and Roy Blackwood, 38, of Sunrise were arrested following a nearly eight-month-long investigation.
According to investigators, the fraud started in January 2022 and took place mainly in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Deputies said Morgan used the UberEats app and acted as the customer and the courier.
He would place a grocery order as a consumer for pickup under a fake account and then accept the order as the courier, according to deputies.
Uber would then provide Morgan with a pre-authorized and pre-loaded credit card to make the purchase. Morgan could purchase up to $700 during a single purchase. Then, as the consumer, he would cancel the order and buy a gift card with the Uber credit card, investigators said.
On several occasions, Blackwood would drive Morgan to different Walgreens stores to commit the fraud, deputies said.
On Jan. 24, detectives conducted a surveillance operation and saw Morgan and Blackwood travel to 27 different Walgreens locations committing fraud that totaled a $5,013.28 loss for Uber in one day alone, investigators said.
Deputies said Morgan created several fake accounts to keep the fraud going and would often use stolen and fabricated identities of Uber drivers, using their license information and altering it with his own photo.
With the help of Uber and investigative techniques, detectives were able to confirm Morgan's involvement with the fake accounts, detectives said.
Deputies issued arrest warrants for the duo on Aug. 7.
Palm Beach Gardens police arrested Blackwood on Aug. 16 and detectives arrested Morgan on Aug. 22 in Tamarac.
The two face charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.
This story was originally published by Scripps News West Palm Beach.
