LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — One pizza box and a local detective helped uncover a suspected scammer. As a result, Uber Eats has temporarily suspended its new virtual kitchen application, but only in the Las Vegas Valley.
Last week, Christina Martin, owner of Manitza's Pizza, received a call from a customer asking about a menu she found on the Uber Eats app.
The problem was that Manizza's Pizza wasn't on Uber Eats.
“I downloaded the app,” Martin said. “And I saw the restaurant staring back at me.”
At first, she thought Uber Eats created an account for her restaurant, but other food delivery apps like GrubHub connect restaurants to Yelp, so that's a possibility. .
However, Martin noticed that the Spring Valley restaurant's address was incorrect and displayed a Henderson address instead.
“The address looked familiar,” she said.
The Henderson address provided to 8 News Now matches the NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe location.
“I called the owner of the facility,” she said. “He was just acting stupid, and I thought it was weird.”
Martin said she wants proof that NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe owner Rob Feig is impersonating her restaurant on the Uber Eats app.
A few days later, Martin was sitting outside a Pizza & Bagel Cafe in New York, ordering a fake Manitza's Pizza on the Uber Eats app and watching his order be picked up and returned.
Now the evidence of the fraud was on her kitchen table. Pizza boxes didn't fit her restaurant.
“I was frustrated,” she said.
self-investigation
Martin still couldn't believe what he saw and decided he needed to triple check to see if NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe was suspected of fraudulent activity.
After cross-referencing the Henderson location, we discovered over a dozen restaurants were spoofed at the same address.
But Martin needed more proof, so he decided to stake out business with another restaurant owner.
“I gave her good medical attention and drove her back to the parking lot,” Martin said. “I placed another order in her company name and tracked everything again.”
A call was then made to the owner of the NY Pizza & Bagel Café, but this time Martin had more evidence.
“He continued to deny everything,” she said. “I told him, 'You have 30 minutes to finish it or I'll start yelling at you.'”
Martin said the alias account matching Henderson's address is no longer accepting orders, but is still online on the Uber Eats app.
That same day, Martin posted a video on Instagram explaining the original mystery, investigation and answer, urging customers to come forward if they ordered from a fake account so they could be provided with the real thing.
“You need to know where your food comes from,” Martin says. “if [customers] It's my fault that I got sick. ”
Las Vegas Pause
Uber Eats spokesman Harry Hartfield said what happened in Las Vegas was terrible and the company is working hard to resolve the fraud allegations.
“This is completely unacceptable and we have taken steps to remove these bad actors,” he said.
In response to the restaurant pseudonym incident, Uber Eats has suspended all new applications for virtual kitchens in the Las Vegas Valley and requires new businesses to submit a business license and proof of address.
“There are restaurants out there that just deliver food,” Hartfield said. “Before we allowed traditional non-brick-and-mortar restaurants.”
Hartfield explained that virtual kitchens are different from “official brick-and-mortar stores” where customers physically pick up their food rather than having it delivered.
The suspension is planned as Uber Eats inspects its virtual kitchens and brick-and-mortar restaurants in the Las Vegas Valley, but Hartfield said this will in no way affect customer orders through the company's app. Ta.
Hartfield said the virtual kitchen applications on the app will eventually be reinstated, and the company plans to review all pending applications for niche businesses in the future.
“There are going to be people who are going to try to manipulate the system,” he says. “We're always looking for ways to stop that.”
“Possibility of confusion”
8 News Now visited NY Pizza & Bagel Café, the restaurant that allegedly appeared under a number of pseudonyms, and asked to speak with the owner about the allegations.
Staff at the restaurant initially said owner Rob Feig was on his way to the restaurant, but minutes later staff told him he wasn't coming.
Mr. Feig released a statement regarding the online fraud allegations.
“We have discovered that there is confusion regarding customer orders on certain online ordering platforms. We may be processing your order at a time when you are attempting to order from another restaurant. NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe only has one account on each online platform and does so under its own name. However, we have recently acted as a ghost kitchen for other businesses that sell through our online platforms. To avoid confusion, we have discontinued our cooperation with them. Thank you for your understanding.'' -NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe.
8 News Now asked Feig to provide the names of the “ghost kitchens” he operated through online platforms, but Feig did not respond.