In April, PIX11 News was covering New York City’s ongoing battle to get drivers not licensed by the city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) to stop picking up fares when reporters saw a driver get pulled over by TLC officers in Queens. He had no driver’s license, registration or insurance, yet he was soliciting rides.
PIX11 reporters observed officers issuing several summonses and pulling a few dangerous cars off the streets. During one of their stops, they were able to prevent a young woman from stepping into an “illegal vehicle.”
On another front, TLC is battling Facebook groups where Uber accounts are illegally rented out to drivers that haven’t been properly vetted by officials – which can include fingerprinting and background checks. One public Facebook group, “UBER ACCOUNT FOR RENT WORLDWIDE,” had more than 22,000 members.
CNN reported that it was just one of 80 Facebook groups where users regularly discussed buying, selling and renting driver accounts for Uber, DoorDash and UK-based Deliveroo. The groups were identified in a new report from the non-profit tech watchdog Tech Transparency Project. According to CNN, “black market groups” allow people to bypass background checks and driver’s license requirements to fraudulently pose as a credentialed driver or delivery worker, creating a significant risk for users who rely on safety assurances from the apps.
A Meta spokesperson said the company would review the report and remove any content that violated its “Fraud, Scams and Deceptive Practices” rules. Five Facebook groups were removed after CNN flagged them to Meta
An Uber spokesperson said “protecting the integrity of our platform is a top priority. Account sharing is never allowed, and we have robust safeguards in place from account creation to trip completion designed to help verify that the person using an account is the rightful owner. When we determine that an account holder is engaging in account sharing, or other forms of fraud, we ban their account from the platform” and work with law enforcement when fraudulent behavior is identified.
The Tech Transparency Project report suggested that more must be done to prevent unauthorized drivers from delivering orders or shuttling riders. The group is also urging Meta to more aggressively enforce its rules against fraud and deceptive practices by cracking down on black-market groups.
Sources: Yahoo! News, CNN
