2 Florida men scammed more than $1 million out of Uber Eats by creating fake accounts and acting as both the customer and courier, police say

• Two men scammed more than $1 million out of Uber Eats over just 19 months, Broward County police say.
• The suspects created fake accounts to both place and pick up grocery orders, police say.

Two men from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area scammed Uber Eats out of more than $1 million over 19 months, local police say.

The suspects carried out the scheme — which began in January 2022 — by creating fake accounts on the Uber Eats app to act as both the customer and courier when placing grocery orders, the Broward County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. This worked because Uber Eats provides couriers with prepaid cards they can use to purchase up to $700 to complete customers' orders.

Police claim the suspects would show up as couriers for their fake grocery orders before canceling them and using the prepaid cards to purchase gift cards at the stores.

The men carried out their scam at 27 different Walgreens across the region, police say.

The two suspects — 21-year-old Trayon Morgan and 38-year-old Roy Blackwood — now face charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft following their arrests earlier this month, police say.

A spokesperson for Uber said the company is grateful for law enforcement's efforts on this case.

"Uber continues to invest in robust anti-fraud systems and technology, which allowed our Global Investigations Team to proactively alert law enforcement about this case," an Uber spokesperson told Insider. "We are committed to combating fraudulent activity on the Uber platform and working to ensure bad actors are held accountable."