Vomit fraud: Difference between revisions

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Vomit fraud is a type of fraud in which a driver of a vehicle for hire falsely claims that an "incident requiring cleanup" occurred while a passenger was riding in the driver's vehicle. The company then charges the passenger a "cleanup fee" to reimburse the driver for having to clean the vehicle.

History

The Miami Herald first reported on the issue in July 2018.^[1] Passengers may face a fee of up to US$150 for causing incidents requiring significant cleanups of drivers' vehicles.^[2] By filing false reports of these incidents, drivers will receive the cleanup fees from the customers even though no incident occurred.^[3]

Criminality

Due to company-friendly terms of service typically agreed to by passengers, police departments have been reluctant to press criminal charges against individuals who engage in the fraud, instead treating these cases as civil matters. A man who had driven for both Uber and Lyft was charged with two counts of attempted theft of property for two separate instances of false cleanup claims.

References

^ Ocner, Matias J.; Ruiz, Catalina; Medina, Esther (July 22, 2018). "It's called vomit fraud. And it could make your Uber trip really expensive". Miami Herald.
^ "Understanding Uber fees: The cancellation fee, cleaning fee, and more". Ridesharing Driver. May 29, 2019.
^ Pascus, Brian (July 23, 2018). "Some Uber passengers are reportedly getting hit with $150 fines after drivers allegedly commit 'vomit fraud'". Insider. Retrieved 2019-11-20.

[1] Ocner, Matias J.; Ruiz, Catalina; Medina, Esther (July 22, 2018). "It's called vomit fraud. And it could make your Uber trip really expensive". Miami Herald.

[2] "Understanding Uber fees: The cancellation fee, cleaning fee, and more". Ridesharing Driver. May 29, 2019.

[3] Pascus, Brian (July 23, 2018). "Some Uber passengers are reportedly getting hit with $150 fines after drivers allegedly commit 'vomit fraud'". Insider. Retrieved 2019-11-20.

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 ==Criminality==
-Due to company-friendly [[terms of service]] typically agreed to by passengers, police departments have been reluctant to press criminal charges against individuals who engage in the fraud, instead treating these cases as civil matters. However, in late October 2018, a [[Harwood, North Dakota]], man who had driven for both [[Uber]] and [[Lyft]] was charged with two counts of attempted [[theft of property]] for two separate instances of false cleanup claims. In one instance, the man was caught on [[surveillance video]] purchasing food, throwing it on the inside and outside of his vehicle, taking photos of the alleged damage, then running the vehicle through a [[car wash]], all after he had already dropped his passenger off at his destination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inforum.com/incoming/913561-McFeely-Harwood-man-charged-in-vomit-fraud-cases |title=Harwood man charged in 'vomit fraud' cases |last=McFeely  |first=Mike |date=November 3, 2018 |website=INFORUM |language=en |access-date=2019-11-20}}</ref>
+Due to company-friendly [[terms of service]] typically agreed to by passengers, police departments have been reluctant to press criminal charges against individuals who engage in the fraud, instead treating these cases as civil matters. A man who had driven for both [[Uber]] and [[Lyft]] was charged with two counts of attempted [[theft of property]] for two separate instances of false cleanup claims.
 ==References==

v t e Types of fraud
Business-related	Billing Cramming Disability Drug / Pharmaceutical Email Employment Food Fixing Impersonation Intellectual property Internet Job Long firm Odometer Phone Health care fertility Ghost network quackery Racketeering Return Tech support Slamming Telemarketing Weight Wine
Family-related	Fertility Marriage Paternity
Financial-related	Advance-fee lottery scam Bank Bankruptcy Chargeback Cheque Credit card and carding Forex Insurance Lottery Mismarking Mortgage Overpayment Securities Shill bidding Tax
Government-related	Benefit Electoral Medicare Visa Welfare
Other types	Affinity Charity Counterfeiting Superdollar Faked death Forgery Scam center Hoax Impersonation Mail and wire honest services Scam Romance Bride Scientific Spyware Vomit White-collar crime
list Category