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Amazon was the biggest of a handful of major tech companies to be hit in a simple scam that saw Brazilian nationals steal the identities of people ordering alcohol online. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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When Frankie DiGiacco, a former prosecutor for the Southern California branch of the Justice Department, saw the scam, he couldn’t believe it had worked. It was so simple, he says, he was surprised that ride-share and delivery companies hadn’t spotted it.
Last year, Homeland Security Investigations agents and DiGiacco were tipped off to a case in which Brazilian nationals appeared to have stolen thousands of ride-share and delivery company customer identities. Companies affected include the biggest names in the business: Amazon, Uber and its Eats division, Instacart, Doordash, Postmate, Lyft and Grubhub. They used the pilfered identities to create driver and courier accounts at those same companies. These…
