Female reporter poses as male courier ber cheats
grammatical mistakes. He said changing the phone number linked to the account would be “easy” but bank details must match the identity of the holder – so he would receive payment, then pay our reporter.
He said: “In this business the best option is trust, I trust you to use my identity and I give you my word I’m not gonna fail you with payments.
BJ insisted our reporter could make £600 a month using his account and claimed he was renting his account “cause my mother she is seek she needs my attention all the time.” He added:
“I rented the account to five persons and everything worked, easy job and easy money.”
Uber claims to employ technology within driver and delivery apps to prevent such scams but online forums give tips to fraudsters on sidestepping the security measures.
BJ scoffed at the idea our reporter would be checked, bragging: “I know nothing happens. you can log in easy.”
When our reporter said it was obvious she was female and not the genuine holder of the licence, he replied: “If someone tell something just say you are using your boyfriends account or you are waiting until your account is approved and you can’t wait.”
Our probe was greeted with shock by Labour MP Wes Streeting, who joined a cross-party group of politicians to urge TFL not to renew Uber Ride’s licence.
The Ilford North politician said: “This investigation has exposed the ongoing failure of Uber to clean up their act. The truth is that when people use Uber they can’t be sure that the person arriving at their front door is the person on their app.”
Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour
MP for Barking who previously criticised the Uber Rides app for “competing unfairly” with London’s black cabs, said: “This is the gig economy at its very worst. Here we have Uber Eats completely failing both its workers and customers.
“They’re running a mass food delivery company without even knowing who is delivering the food. This is a crucial investigation by the Sunday People lifting the lid on the reality of modern work.”
Laura Richards, founder of Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service, said: “This is terrifying and shows yet again how easy it is to cheat Uber security, placing female customers at risk of stalking and sexual violence. Women’s safety must be a priority whether ordering an Uber car or Uber Eats.
“Uber must urgently review their security protocols to ensure only named and vetted drivers are used – a radical re-think is needed with women’s safety at the heart of it.” When the Sunday People challenged Brilha, who claimed to be in America “on business”, he insisted: “I’m a businessman so, to get an extra income, it’s a good idea. It’s a bit risky, but why would a criminal need to work in the food delivery industry?”
Speaking on Facetime, he said he began renting out his account after twice being robbed on the job and not getting paid.
Uber Eats is run separately from the Uber Rides business and is not regulated by Transport for London.
A spokeswoman said: “Unauthorised account sharing is strictly forbidden on the Uber Eats app and we take this extremely seriously. Anyone found sharing their account fraudulently will be immediately removed from the app.
“We work with the Home Office and Immigration Intelligence to prevent unauthorised account sharing.”