Scamfluencers - Priscila Barbosa: The Rideshare Robinhood

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

When Priscila Barbosa moves to Boston from Brazil in 2018, she sets out to pay off her debts and send money back home by driving for rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft. Eventually, she decides her cut isn’t enough, and she rallies other undocumented immigrants to create one of the most lucrative illicit rideshare rings in Beantown. But this millennial #girlboss learns that suspicious groupchats and Instagrams flaunting her cozy new lifestyle will hurt her chances of staying one step ahead of Silicon Valley and the feds. Eventually, Priscilla’s free ride delivers her to a final destination: jail.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to Scamfluencers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/scamfluencers/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to scamfluencers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts. [♪THEME MUSIC PLAYING Sarah, we all get what feels like a million spam messages each week with offers that always sound too good to be true. And they usually are. Have you ever fallen victim to one of these scams? No, I haven't actually.

But a friend of mine was expecting a package and she just happened to get one that was specifically about US customs. And mindlessly, you know, she was like walking and like put in her credit card information. Instantly, she got a fraud alert for like $2,500. Yikes. It was crazy how quickly it happened.

I fell for one once when I was like 22, when they were like first starting to happen and I have never fallen for one since. I'm so afraid of them. No, they are really, really scary. Well, these scamming operations are growing really fast. They target anyone in any language all around the world. But the truth is, the person on the other side really fast. They target anyone in any language all around the world.

But the truth is, the person on the other side of that message might be trapped inside a giant scam factory where they're forced to scam others against their will. Yeah, it is awful. Many have been lured into compounds in Southeast Asia by the promise of an amazing job. Only, they wind up sitting in front of a computer for 12 to 14 hours a day, forced to scam victims, or risk being tortured or even killed. You and I both recently listened to Scam Factory, which tells the story of the people behind these messages. It's an incredible first-hand account of one family's journey into a scam compound,

and their quest to try and escape. The series takes you inside a scam factory and shows the sophisticated recruitment tactics they use. They entice and trap a vulnerable workforce by targeting entire families. And Scam Factory follows how one woman's actions to save her family resulted in the harm of a long line of others and their families.

It's messy, it's complicated, and I couldn't stop listening. Sarah, what stood out the most for you when you listened to Scam Factory? I think throughout what stood out for me the most was just how much we don't think twice about who's sending those messages or making those calls. Often online you'll see as a joke, like an exchange with a possible scammer,

and you won't think twice about it, but it could be so deeply sinister. I think the whole cycle of harm that goes into the scams and how even if you get scammed, the bigger victim is likely the one who's making the call or texting. To me, that was really shocking. I also think it was crazy how the people running the scams were always a few steps ahead and they are really expert manipulators. I don't know, it's really something out of nightmares.

Yeah, I mean, the series really makes you think about what you would do if you were in that situation. Like, would you choose to harm people who you don't even know so that you survive? I don't know, I feel like it's really hard to know what you would do in that situation because you could get into a lot of trouble for just trying to escape the scam.

Yeah. Okay, well, we're about to dive into our main story, but a quick plug, Scam Factory is available early and ad-free right now on Wondry+. Or you can listen everywhere on February 24th. Like the people in Scam Factory, today's scammer also moved to a new country for the promise of a better life, but she actually worked her way up to running an illegal rideshare empire. She was giving immigrants like her a chance to make a living, but it wasn't without risk,

both for her workers and for their customers. We sometimes have scammers on this show who we empathize with because, at least at the beginning, their hearts are in the right place. Yeah, but they always lose the plot at some point. Like the line between selfless and selfish is a lot greater than you might think. Well, Sarah, today's story is about what lengths people will go to in order to survive and who they're willing to sell out in order to thrive. That's right, it's time for another hashtag girl boss.

It's late May 2020 and Priscilla Barbosa is at a park in Los Angeles. She's wearing a short white sundress and a flower crown and standing under a tree of purple blooms. Priscilla is in her mid-30s and barely five feet tall. She's Brazilian with long brown hair and lots of curves. And right now, she's gazing up into the eyes of a man named Mario Medrano. A reverend stands between them in a mask. It is the height of the pandemic, after all, and he's here to officiate their wedding. It's an intimate ceremony.

Priscilla's family is back in Brazil, so she has only one friend with her. And on the groom's side is his girlfriend. I mean, that's every girl's dream to go to your boyfriend's wedding. Well, Sarah, this is not a poly-cule situation. This whole wedding is actually a sham. Priscilla and Mario actually just met each other.

And if all goes well, they'll never have to see each other again after today. Priscilla is in this for a green card, and Mario is in it for $10,000. Among the few guests at the park is a staffer from the sham wedding agency that put Priscilla and Mario together. They take photos of the fake couple to document the day. Priscilla FaceTimes her family back home of the fake couple to document the day. Priscilla FaceTimes her family back home, who seem to go along with the whole charade. And then she heads down to the beach

where she snaps a photo and posts it to Instagram. But online, she fails to mention that she's just gotten married. Sarah, can you describe the post for us? Yeah, it's kind of mysterious. It's super saturated to the point where her skin looks orange. And you just kind of see her from behind,

wearing a short white dress. And it looks like it's meant to be intriguing. And the caption says, the sky is the limit with an exclamation point. Which has me wondering, what are you talking about? Yeah, man, I mean, Priscilla is an enigma. And ever since she moved to the States two years ago, she's been posting things like this on Instagram. Yeah, man, I mean, Priscilla is an enigma. And ever since she moved to the States two years ago,

she's been posting things like this on Instagram. Glamorous, mysterious images with vaguely inspirational captions that make her life seem perfect, especially to her family and friends back in Brazil. But like so much on social media, the reality is something else entirely. Because just like her marriage,

Priscilla's work isn't what it seems. She's portraying herself as a successful businesswoman. And she is. But her empire has been built on the backs of undocumented immigrants illegally driving for rideshare companies. She's managed to outsmart some of the biggest companies in the U.S. and the government. And it's given her and her community of undocumented employees a really good life.

But Priscilla's starting to cross over from helping others to just helping herself. And soon her picture-perfect American story will meet cold, hard reality. You just realized your business needed to hire someone like yesterday. With Indeed, there's no need to stress. You can find amazing candidates fast using sponsored jobs. With sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates

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BEDMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. From Wondery, I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Haggi. And this is Scamfluencers. Priscilla Barbosa began scamming when she came to the U.S. But it wasn't out of greed. It was out of survival. Priscilla figured out how toming when she came to the U.S., but it wasn't out of greed. It was out of survival. Priscilla figured out how to gain popular apps like Lyft, Uber, and DoorDash.

And then she set out to share the wealth, earning a reputation in Boston's Brazilian community as a modern-day Robinhood. But as her business grew, Priscilla bought into her own hype and crossed over from sympathetic scammer to ruthless capitalist. This is Priscilla Barbosa, the ride-share Robinhood. into her own hype and crossed over from sympathetic scammer to ruthless capitalist. This is Priscilla Barbosa, the ride share Robin Hood. Our story starts around 2013 in Brazil, in a city a couple hours west of São Paulo. Priscilla's in her late 20s.

She's an ambitious go-getter who's always had a knack for tech. In high school, she upgraded her own PC and formed a group of female gamers to compete in tournaments. She used her college degree in IT to get a job digitizing records for the city health department. She's also obsessed with working out and cooking healthy meals. Now she's looking to combine all of her passions into a side hustle, selling ready-made meals that are gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegetable oil-free. It's a good idea, and Priscilla's clients love it.

In 2015, she officially names her business Fit Express. And within two years, it becomes her full-time job. Fit Express is so successful that she hires nine employees. Priscilla's young and has money, and she uses it to travel the world, going to music festivals and Disney World. She's also spending a lot on Botox and manicures. Oh, and she's really into Bitcoin.

You know, I was really into this story until you said she was really into Bitcoin. I know. I'm excited to see how she turns into a scammer because this seems very legitimate. Well, unfortunately, Priscilla's business is hit hard by a recession in Brazil. Many of her customers start cutting out their meal deliveries to save money.

Priscilla cashes out her Bitcoin and takes on high-interest loans to try to save her business. But her efforts are too little, too late, and she's forced to close Fit Express. She's not the only one suffering in the economic downturn. Her parents own a small bakery and are counting on that business for their retirement, but they end up losing the bakery

and with it, all their plans for the future. Priscilla's younger sister, who just graduated, is struggling to find a job. So Priscilla, as the oldest daughter, feels responsible for helping her entire family. But she can't find a stable gig in Brazil. She shares her struggles with her friends, including one acquaintance that she has in the States.

He lives in Boston, where there's actually a pretty big Brazilian community. And he tells her about his new gig driving for Uber and Lyft. He says he's making $250 a day. Priscilla is impressed. That's about what a lawyer can expect to make in Brazil. According to this guy, all Priscilla needs

is a tourist visa to come over and get started. He even offers to let her stay with him while he shows her the ropes. I mean, so much of this is obviously huge red flags, but the letting her stay with him while she learns the ropes, no. That's a predator. Yeah, it's not great.

But this is what a lot of immigrants do. And at this point, Priscilla sees this as her best chance to help her family. And once she sets her mind to something, there's no going back. She sells a family heirloom, her grandfather's ring, and buys a $900 one-way ticket to the United States. She's buzzing with excitement. The start of her American dream is just a flight away. But Priscilla has no idea just how much this dream is going to cost her.

It's April 2018, and Priscilla is standing outside Customs at JFK Airport. She's frantically looking around for the guy who encouraged her to come to the U.S. He was supposed to pick her up in New York and drive her to Boston, but he's nowhere to be found. And now he's not answering any of her texts. She came all the way from Brazil, and now he's ghosting her? Priscilla breaks down in tears. All she has is her phone, two suitcases,

and $117 to her name. And now she has nowhere to go. Priscilla doesn't have enough money for a return flight home, and her pride stops her from calling anyone for help. She simply can't stand the idea of anyone telling her, I told you so. So Priscilla wipes away her tears, walks outside into the spring air, and spends $10 of her

precious money on a lift to get to the bus terminal. From there, she hops on a bus and heads north to Boston. It's about a four-hour ride, which means Priscilla has that long to figure out what she'll do when she gets there. She scrolls through Brazilian community Facebook groups, looking for others in the Boston area. She sends out a bunch of DMs and calls people up, asking for help. One Brazilian to another.

And finally, she gets a lead. There's a guy with a pizzeria who's hiring. She can come in for a job interview tomorrow. Another Brazilian man is renting a tiny room in a flop house, and he tells Priscilla that she won't have to pay the $400 rent until she gets paid. Relieved, Priscilla takes them both up on their offers. Wow, talk about being resourceful.

I don't know if I would be so clear-headed in such a totally scary situation. Yeah, Priscilla is very scrappy, but none of this is very glamorous. She buys a cheap air mattress for the flop house, and at night, she pretends she doesn't hear the rats scurrying outside of her bedroom door. She does get the pizzeria job, but she has to walk an hour to get there each day because she doesn't have a car.

Priscilla may be a stranger in a strange land, but she does have one comfort. On her way to work, she regularly stops at Planet Fitness to lift weights and use the shower. Priscilla may be a stranger in a strange land, but she does have one comfort. On her way to work, she regularly stops at Planet Fitness to lift weights and use the shower. She doesn't have money for her manicures or Botox, but she still wants to find a way to feel like her. And she posts pictures to Instagram that paint a much more glamorous picture of her new life in the States.

Can you describe these Instagram posts from around this time? Yeah, you know, this is kind of the danger of Instagram. It's very like 2018, using filters, taking a photo right on Instagram and posting it. Vibe. Like no vibe to the photo. Yeah, it's when you could post whatever you wanted. Yeah, we were so free. It's photos of her, like one she's in Times Square and she's doing heart hands and she looks great.

Like you would never know she's struggling. Another, she's pointing up in front of a hard rock cafe, which is honestly quite charming. And you know, there's another one in front of that Hope statue in Times Square. And the caption for the Hope one says, the translation is, grateful for another chance and opportunity

that God gave me. I mean, not knowing that obviously there's a scam involved here later on, I would just look at this and think, she's making the best out of a pretty bad situation, you know, like it's American dreamlike. It is, it really is. At this point, Priscilla makes about $800 a week

at the pizzeria in cash, but she'll need more than that if she wants to get out of debt and move out of the flop house. So she looks for a second part-time job, but most gigs require her to have a social security number. One restaurant manager sympathizes with her and even gives her a lead to get fake work documents. But Priscilla's too scared to go down that road.

She doesn't want to risk being caught and getting deported. Then, a few months later, business at the pizzeria slows down and she loses her job. She struggles to find a new one. As an undocumented immigrant, her options are limited. Priscilla starts to realize that bending the rules may be her only option. Shortly after being laid off from the pizzeria,

Priscilla is lying in bed scrolling through Facebook, and she sees a post that says, "'Do you want to work for Uber or Lyft and be your own boss?' Of course, the last time someone suggested this, Priscilla got ghosted. But now she's already in Boston and she's been able to earn enough money

to buy a used car. So she decides to call the number from the Facebook post. The guy on the other end gives her his pitch. For 250 bucks a week, he can set her up with a fully functioning Uber account that's hers to use. The account has been created using a real U.S. citizen's identity, which meets the background check requirements, a U.S. driver's license, Social security number, and one year of driving experience. But it will have Priscilla's picture and be linked to her car and her bank account.

And this won't flag anything in the system, because it's actually somewhat common for rideshare drivers to use cars that are registered to someone else. I know this does sound, as you're saying it, quite risky and deceptive. But listen, I'm from an immigrant and refugee family. This is the kind of thing people do for work. And this is like one of the more legitimate and easier things. Like this is considered an actual good opportunity. Right.

Well, Priscilla feels fine with this scheme. In her mind, no one is actually getting hurt here. Yes, they're using people's licenses illegally. But it's not like she's stealing identities to open bank accounts. Priscilla is simply driving her customers from point A to point B in a safe and timely manner. Of course, it's not that simple. She is breaking the law. And while Priscilla plans to drive her customers safely, there's no guarantee that everyone using this workaround is doing the same.

This hack exposes customers to drivers who don't have a verifiable safety record, who may not have experience driving in the US and who haven't passed a background check. Plus, their real identities aren't linked to their accounts. So if they rob or assault a passenger, it would be hard to track them down. Cars are dangerous and anything can happen.

Like, I would want to know who that person is if I was a passenger, of course. But also, this breach of trust doesn't seem sinister if you don't have sinister intentions, right? But yeah, I mean, this is obviously a problem. Yes. Well, Priscilla doesn't seem all too worried about these concerns. She signs up.

And in her first week of driving, she makes two grand, enough money to drive full-time and live more comfortably. She convinces herself that if she just keeps her head down and completes the Uber rides, she can't possibly be hurting anyone. But to keep the money rolling in, she'll have to go even further into the scam, and she won't be able to claim innocence for much longer.

Six months after Priscilla arrives in Boston, Uber deactivates her account due to suspicious activity. But it's okay. Priscilla's account manager can set her up with a Lyft account instead. However, there's a bigger problem. Because Lyft wants Priscilla to confirm her identity by scanning her driver's license, which she can't do because she doesn't have one. She texts the guy who set up the account and asks what to do.

He sends back a photo of the ID he used to open the account. Priscilla submits it and holds her breath. She doesn't know what she's going to do if she loses this job. And then Lyft accepts the photo. She breathes a sigh of relief. But this whole illegal drive share scheme is wearing Priscilla down. Because it isn't just her customers who are potentially at risk.

Priscilla herself is in a precarious position. She has to deal with rowdy passengers because as an undocumented immigrant, she can't call the cops. Not even after one guy tries to force himself on her. And she's constantly on high alert when she's on the road. One forgotten blinker or burnt out taillight could land her in front of a cop

asking for a license that she doesn't have. So every day feels like a game of chance. Oh my God, there are so many layers to how scary this job must be. Like, yeah, it would be scary to be a woman, a woman of color in Boston driving... At night? At night driving a Lyft or an Uber.

And yeah, like she doesn't have any protection. So imagine just driving without insurance. I feel like that'd be so scary. Yeah. Well, of course Priscilla is not telling anyone back in Brazil about how sketchy her job is. Because while this gig may be stressful, it's also lucrative. In just six months, Priscilla's moved out of the Flophouse and into an apartment.

She's sending money home to help her parents pay their bills. She's almost completely out of debt. And most importantly, she's able to treat herself. She finally starts getting her manicures and Botox again. And she keeps posting on Instagram, boasting about her accomplishments. Sarah, can you describe this post? Yeah, you know, it's just like a happy photo of her

on an American street, looks like a big city, could be New York. She has peace signs up and there's a caption, her longest yet, that says, "'Leaving Brazil was by far the hardest decision I've made. "'I still don't know what my future holds and fear keeps creeping in from time to time. But there are many experiences that make me thank every day

for having had such courage and boldness. You know, usually people when they talk like this online, it's really eye-rolly. It feels like really much like a performance or it doesn't come from a real place. But like, unlike a lot of scammers that do post this way, she once did have everything in a very legitimate way. Like she had her own business, she was thriving and she lost everything

and her family did too. So I do feel like this comes probably from a real place of her trying to have a positive and inspiring outlook. So it's a good attitude to have. Agreed. But then, one day, one of Priscilla's customers accidentally leaves her wallet in the car. Priscilla contacts the woman and offers to return it.

But instead of being grateful, the woman is a pain in the ass. She sends Priscilla to two different locations over the course of two hours, and is rude the entire time. Priscilla is so annoyed that she feels compelled to do something she's never done before. She takes a picture of the woman's license. She doesn't plan on actually using it, but it probably makes her feel good to just have a little power. When Priscilla finally meets up with her,

the woman doesn't give her a tip or even a thank you. And that's when Priscilla finally meets up with her, the woman doesn't give her a tip or even a thank you. And that's when Priscilla starts to think, yeah, maybe I should use this monster's ID to make a new rideshare account. It's not like the woman's going to get hurt or find out. And after everything she put Priscilla through, she certainly doesn't deserve her kindness.

Oh my God. This took such a turn in what feels like no time at all. And this is a new fear I have of losing my wallet. Like, you know, you forget that someone could just take a picture of your IDs and use them. If someone returns it, you think they're just going to be nice about it. Well, this is why I don't have a driver's license, Sarah, as you know. True. And I think that's really smart. Thank you.

But here's the thing. Priscilla does hesitate. Making her own fake account would be crossing a line that she's avoided so far. So she holds off on doing anything with the photo until Christmas. At this point, she's overstayed her tourist visa. She would need a green card to leave and re-enter the U.S. so she doesn't dare fly home to Brazil. She spends her first holiday without her family, lying in bed, feeling a little lonely,

and a little desperate. Priscilla decides it's time to make a big change. If she wants to get enough financial security to do something about her visa situation, she can't keep paying other people to provide her with ride-share accounts. If she can make her own, she'll save $250 a week. So she opens an Uber app, she'll save $250 a week.

So she opens the Uber app, clicks on the link to create a new account, and uploads the rude woman's ID. Priscilla uses the woman's name, but adds her own car insurance, registration, email, and phone number. She even puts her own picture, which looks nothing like the license photo, onto the driver profile. And then she takes a gamble and just makes up a social security number. She submits the application and hopes for the best. The next day, Uber approves her account. Priscilla can't believe it was that easy. She can just create fake accounts herself. She doesn't have to pay a middleman anymore. Priscilla's back to being her own boss, and she's going to put her entrepreneurial spirit to work.

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another business opportunity a friend is looking for someone to use his dormant rideshare accounts. He even offers a finder's fee of $50 a week. Priscilla is pretty tapped into the Brazilian population in Boston, so she agrees to scout a new driver for him. She knows a few other people who have accounts to spare, so she connects them with willing drivers as well. Before long, she's bringing in $300 a week in finders fees. To be clear, Priscilla has still only made one fake account.

But that all changes when she throws a house party. As she and her friends eat barbecue and drink Mike's hard lemonades, someone shares a big discovery. Priscilla learns that the government updated the way to sign social security numbers after June 2011. As a result, if you create an account with Uber or Lyft and plug in a number created post-2011, their systems automatically verify it.

Basically, the new Social Security numbers are completely randomized, rather than being tied to a geographic location, which makes it harder for background check software to verify it. It's a loophole just waiting to be exploited. Priscilla can't believe it's that simple. So later that night, she pulls up a website that tells you when a Social Security number was issued, and she starts trying random numbers until she hits on one that was assigned after 2011. She uses it to make a new Uber driver account, and then she waits.

Lo and behold, within 48 hours, Uber approves the account. Okay, you know in horror movies when someone is like being haunted or like a demon possesses them and you can pinpoint what they did wrong for that to happen to them? Yeah. This is one of those horror movies

where it's like anyone can be a victim. Like she's just putting in random numbers. Like there's no rhyme or reason here. Yeah, it's literally random. And Priscilla is stunned. She realizes that this opens a ton of opportunities. But if she's gonna do this, then she is going to need driver's licenses and she'll have to buy them off the black market.

There's no getting around that. But Priscilla tells herself the same things she did when she started driving. No one's getting hurt. In fact, she'd be helping other undocumented immigrants. If there were other options for them to legally work in the U.S., they would do that instead. But there aren't. She'd be doing something good for people who deserve better. And of course, it would pad her own wallet. Yeah, I mean, she is opening the Pandora's Box of becoming a scammer, which is, oh, if

I do this one thing, that's the last bad thing I'll do and no one will get hurt until, you know, you can justify anything after that point. Yep. And at this point, Priscilla is all about Kuda and not about Shuda. That summer, she creates eight new accounts. She's back to running her own company and she earns a reputation around Boston as a trustworthy businesswoman. Soon, she's the go-to person for the Brazilian community. She's organized and unlike other brokers, she doesn't scam undocumented immigrants or force them to pay exorbitant fees.

So more and more people start hitting her up on WhatsApp, wanting their own profiles. So she's kind of become the person who brought her to America in that way. Yes, but without the ghosting. Yeah. By late summer, Priscilla is making around $10,000 a month. Soon, she realizes that it would be more lucrative for her

to stop driving and focus solely on account creation and management. So that's exactly what she does. Priscilla takes this new full-time job seriously. For each new client, she registers a burner phone number and an encrypted email. She also does her best to match clients with licenses that look like them. And if that doesn't work, she photoshops her clients' faces right onto the IDs. This is where her kind of tech background comes into play.

Like, this is pretty sophisticated. — Yeah, it is. And Priscilla's likely doing all of this with one goal in mind— to make enough money to legally settle in the U.S. She's not interested in the criminal life long term, and she's determined to go legit someday. But she's got limited options at the moment, so she's doing what she has to do to survive. But there's also a part of Priscilla that feels proud of herself for outsmarting major

U.S. corporations. Can you read what she later told Wired magazine? Yeah, she said, I feel pride in breaking their stupid systems. These companies are all about money. They don't care for the drivers. We are just numbers for them. They don't care for the drivers. We are just numbers for them.

You know, hard point to argue. She's not wrong. These companies exploit people legally. You can't really argue the logic. Well, Priscilla still has a few rules that she won't break. For example, she knows a guy who collects drivers licenses by purposely getting into fender benders. And then he takes pictures of their IDs when they exchange information.

Priscilla refuses to buy his licenses. She doesn't want to be involved with anything that hurts real people. To Priscilla, her scheme feels different, like a victimless crime. But she's not going to be able to stand on holier-than-thou ground for much longer. Because when push comes to shove, she'll have to choose between money and morals. When Priscilla's not working, she's living it up and documenting it all on Instagram. Around the time she starts making good money, she takes a cross-country trip in her used black Mustang, stopping at the Grand Canyon, then partying it up in Vegas. In Los Angeles, she stops by the famous Rodeo Drive.

Sarah, can you describe this post? Yes, she's in front of a Louis Vuitton store on a post that shows Rodeo Drive, and she's kind of holding onto it, like arching her back in that very pre-2020 pose. And again, she's living it up and she looks quite happy to be in LA. Yeah, she looks good.

And when she calls home, her mom asks, what exactly Priscilla is doing for work that allows her to afford such a lifestyle? Priscilla gives a vague answer about making accounts. And then it all comes screeching to a halt. In the fall of 2019, Uber contacts about 35 of Priscilla's clients and demands that they present their documents in person. It seems they've detected a separate ring of people bypassing the company's background checks, and some of Priscilla's accounts were flagged

in the process. Unfortunately for Priscilla, since the social security numbers they've been using aren't real, she and her drivers have to abandon the flagged accounts. Priscilla, since the Social Security numbers they've been using aren't real, she and her drivers have to abandon the flagged accounts. Priscilla loses about $30,000 in monthly income in a matter of days. But Priscilla's gotten a taste of the good life, and she's not willing to give it up that easily. Uber doesn't scare her. She wants to make more accounts. But she knows now that her random, fake social security numbers won't do the trick. She's going to need real ones.

The idea makes her uncomfortable. Driver's licenses are one thing, but social security numbers, which can be used to open bank accounts and new lines of credit, are more valuable and riskier to steal. They also have bigger consequences for her if she gets caught. But Priscilla's already lost one business she loved. She doesn't wanna lose this venture too. So she takes the leap.

Priscilla buys a few stolen numbers from a contact for $100 each. She creates a few new accounts with the new numbers and they all get approved. But it feels wrong. These are real people's identities and she's crossing a line that she told herself she wouldn't. She stops after the first few

and starts to worry that she'll have to walk away from her Uber business altogether to find something new. But then, one of her customers gives her an idea that might just save her entire illicit business without compromising her morals. Alessandro da Vonseca is at Chipotle, waiting to pick up a DoorDash order and chatting up the other drivers.

Alessandro has been driving for DoorDash using one of Priscilla's fake accounts for a few months now, ever since he emigrated from Brazil. Like Priscilla, Alessandro comes from a lower-class neighborhood. As a kid, he dreamed of joining the Brazilian Navy, but he failed the entrance exam. Since he didn't have a lot of other options, he came to the U.S. in 2019 to try to make a better life. He's hardworking and responsible, sending extra

money back home to his family in Brazil. Unlike Uber, DoorDash doesn't seem to have caught onto the fake accounts. So Priscilla's able to reuse the driver's licenses she used for Uber to create new accounts for people like Alessandro. Things get even better in 2019 when Priscilla and Alessandro learn about a DoorDash referral program. If someone refers new drivers to the app and the driver makes a certain number of deliveries, the person who referred them gets a payout. Alessandro and Priscilla see the potential to exploit this program to the max. Priscilla uses one of her many fake accounts to refer a new, also fake account. Then Alessandra and Priscilla see the potential to exploit this program to the max. Priscilla uses one of her many fake accounts to refer a new, also fake account.

Then Alessandra does the driving and completes the orders. And once they get the referral bonus, they split it 50-50. Typically, Alessandra works under two referred accounts at once and clears enough deliveries to earn the bonus every two weeks. Rinse and repeat. Oh my God. This is getting increasingly sophisticated

and complicated and risky. Yeah. And Alessandro is not the only driver doing this. A lot of other undocumented workers are also driving under fraudulent accounts and getting a percentage of the referral bonus. But some of them are only getting about 20%. So Alessandro introduces them to Priscilla.

She's much more generous with her split. According to his later sentencing memo, Alessandro claims that his recruits were only his immediate circle of friends and their friends. He admits to making the introductions. But after that, all he did was encourage them to hit their targets so they got the referral bonus. Sometimes, Priscilla texted him to make sure his recruits were keeping up.

And if they weren't, Alessandro offered to take over their accounts and drive until they hit the bonus threshold. Alessandro claims he has no idea how Priscilla was actually running the backend of her business. He's just trying to make his money and get by, so he's not asking any questions that might threaten the status quo. Plus, he trusts Priscilla. But when the pandemic hits just a few months later, the food delivery business is poised to take off in a way that no one anticipated. And everyone stands to make a hell of a lot of money.

When the pandemic hits in 2020, the demand for food delivery is insane. DoorDash and Instacart are struggling to recruit enough drivers to meet demand, so they increase their referral bonuses to two grand or more. They'll take any drivers they can get. As much as the delivery apps need drivers, undocumented drivers are even more desperate for work. They're not eligible for unemployment or COVID relief,

so Priscilla's getting texts nonstop from people begging her to help them. She starts making accounts as fast as she possibly can. Around this time, she pushes the ethical line even further. She buys a bot that messes with delivery app systems and allows her drivers to cut the line in the queue for orders. DoorDash works on a first-come, first-served basis with its drivers, so if her drivers to cut the line in the queue for orders. DoorDash works on a first-come, first-serve basis with its drivers.

So if her drivers are always at the front of the line, they're practically guaranteed to make more money. It also means they're taking potential earnings away from other drivers who aren't aiming the system. Yeah, I mean, it's clear that she's now kind of seeing this as more of an empire than like a way to help other people like her make some money while they find ways to stay in the United States. Yeah, she's, you know, a capitalist.

And with the help of the bots, some of Priscilla's clients are able to complete enough deliveries to hit the referral bonus within a single day. And they come right back the next day asking for a new account so they can get another new driver bonus. It seems like a win-win situation. At one point, Priscilla brings in about $15,000 in one week. Despite the state of the world, Priscilla's feeling pretty good.

She's got a solid business, and since she's not doing any of the driving herself, she's probably less worried about getting COVID or getting deported. But there's one thing that would make it all even better, getting a green card so she can visit her family. And thanks to her massive influx of COVID-era earnings, she has the money and the connections to get one illegally.

In May 2020, Priscilla flies to LA to visit an agency that puts together sham marriages. She pays $28,000 to the agency to arrange her marriage to a U.S. citizen, with 10 grand of that money going to her new fake husband. That would be Mario from the start of our story. And remember his four real girlfriend who was at a ceremony? Well, she was in a sham marriage too, also for money. Okay, so it's just kind of a whole other ring of shams, but this one is with marriage. Yeah, this is a family business here. Okay.

Well, after it's all official, Mario and his girlfriend head home, and Priscilla flies back to Boston and carries on with her life. She takes a few extra steps to make the marriage seem legit, like buying a car in her and Mario's names and applying for life insurance together. Now, she just has to wait for her green card to get processed and approved, which could take years. At that point, she still won't be a U.S. citizen, but she'll be set up to apply for citizenship down the road.

For the first time, Priscilla feels comfortable setting down roots in her new country. She adopts a Yorkie and names him Bailey. She runs a three-story townhouse, which she decorates with a karaoke machine, a keg tap, a hot tub, and a fire pit in the backyard. And of course, all of this makes for fantastic Instagram content. She also buys a plot of land in Florida, where she hopes to someday build a house

and move in with her real partner, a Brazilian house painter who lives with her in Boston. And she hopes to actually be able to marry him one day once she gets her in Boston. And she hopes to actually be able to marry him one day, once she gets her green card. At this point, that perfect future seems within reach. So in the fall of 2020, when tons of people start asking Priscilla to set them up with Uber Eats accounts, she pauses to consider it. Dealing with Uber would mean crossing the boundary of buying real social security numbers.

But she's so close to having everything she's dreamed of. And she's helping her clients make ends meet, too. So Priscilla bites the bullet and buys real social security numbers herself, off the dark web. She tries to justify it to herself as continuing to help her community. She even gives out a few accounts for free, for immigrants in particularly desperate situations. The whole time, Priscilla is managing to stay one step ahead of the app's verification systems.

Even when Instacart deactivates about 85% of her accounts, presumably for suspicious activity, she doubles down. She spends days making new accounts for all of her clients, assuming that she'll outsmart the app. She thinks she's invincible, but that attitude is about to land her in a world of trouble. What's up guys, it's your girl Kiki,

and my podcast is back with a new season, and let me tell you, it's too good, and I'm diving into the brains of entertainment's best and brightest, okay? Every episode, I bring on a friend and have a real conversation. And I don't mean just friends, I mean the likes of Amy Poehler,

Kel Mitchell, Vivica Fox, the list goes on. And now I have my own YouTube channel. So follow, watch, and listen to Baby, This is Kiki Palmer on the Wondery app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch full episodes on YouTube, and you can listen to Baby, This is Kiki Palmer, early and ad free right now by joining

Wondery. And uh, where are my headphones? Because uh, it's time to get into it. Holla at your girl! At 24, I lost my narrative, or rather it was stolen from me, and the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes, and politics. I would define reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen, and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. So I think listeners can expect me to be chatting with folks, both recognizable and unrecognizable names, about the way that people have navigated roads to triumph.

My hope is that people will finish an episode of Reclaiming and feel like they filled their tank up. They connected with the people that I'm talking to and leave with maybe some nuggets that help them feel a little more hopeful. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Reclaiming early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.

And I feel like I like it It's late 2020 and Priscilla is battling with the Uber app. It seems like the rideshare giant is finally catching on to her scheme. Her accounts just keep getting deactivated. Normally, Priscilla's pretty good at finding a workaround so she can remake the accounts. But now she's hitting a wall.

And if she can't figure this out, she's screwed. Not only will she lose her entire income, but she'll let down all her clients and friends in Boston. And she'll have to admit to failure to everyone back home in Brazil. Priscilla is not gonna let that happen. She knows she's not the only one dealing with this issue. So she opens WhatsApp and clicks on the group at the top of her list, a chat nicknamed Mafia.

It's full of other immigrants who are running similar schemes so they can help each other troubleshoot problems as they come up. I just wouldn't name it that. I wouldn't name it that. I wouldn't name it mafia. Don't, don't invoke criminal activity in your criminal activity WhatsApp group. Yeah, it's a little obvious.

Well, Priscilla asks if anyone else is having similar issues. Another member of the group mentions that Uber keeps metadata of its accounts and Priscilla's tech savvy kicks in. She realizes that Uber's tracking all the accounts she makes back to one source, her iPhone. If she masks her location using a VPN,

it could fix everything. In case you are not a hacker nerd, VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, which essentially encrypts your personal data and masks your IP address. VPNs are helpful for getting around firewalls on the internet, like if you're trying to watch a TV show that's only available in Canada. They're also helpful

if you're a scammer trying to cover your tracks. Hey, I mean, most people should be using a VPN. They're stealing our data out here, so... That's true. Yeah. So Priscilla gets to work. She sets up a VPN on her computer, and then she changes her computer's location and installs another VPN on top of that. Finally, she opens a web browser and tries to create an Uber account

with one of her stolen social security numbers. And it works. The account is approved. Priscilla makes a few Uber Eats delivery orders herself through the test account just to make sure. But yeah, the account is still working. She texts the mafia the good news. They're all happy and relieved that their de facto leader

found a solution. Can you read what one member messaged to the chat? Yeah, they said, if Priscilla can't figure it out, no one can. You know, I believe that. She sounds like she's so resourceful, so smart. It's kind of crazy that she's low-key beloved by all. Well, just when Priscilla thinks her problems are solved, a bigger one pops up.

Around the end of the year, there are rumblings that police might be investigating the whole fake ride-sharing delivery app accounts industry. And if they do that, it's only a matter of time before they end up on Priscilla's doorstep. Naturally, she freaks out. And her first thought is that she's got to destroy the evidence. She grabs everything in her apartment related to her business and throws it all into trash bags. She also snatches up her burner phones and drives over them with her car. She then disposes of everything in dumpsters all over the city.

Then, just to make sure she's extra safe, she forces herself to stop making accounts for a couple weeks. Priscilla distracts herself by going to Miami Beach for New Year's Eve, where she posts a photo of herself smiling at the camera. Sarah, please read the caption for us. Okay, so it's a photo of her with a huge margarita.

It's like the size of her head. And you know what? Looking at this, you'd never think there was a pandemic and that most people were stuck in their homes or suffering. And I feel like her caption is just like not really reading the room in many ways. She goes, 2020, ah, what a year. It has been a difficult year for many,

but I'm just thankful for my achievements, for my evolution as a person and spiritual, for the lessons, for the struggles, and most importantly, for the health of all the people I love. Nothing but gratitude, 2020. Oh, that is rough knowing what is likely going to come for her.

But also, you know, this is kind of when she starts veering into delusional territory, because like, she struggled, we get it. Like a lot of the other ones made sense. But I feel like if you're doing something illegal with money, you shouldn't show people that you're spending it. Yeah, she is starting to lose the plot. She actually shares the picture with the mafia WhatsApp group, and someone jokingly writes back, quote,

Find me, FBI. It seems like tempting fate. But Priscilla waits a few weeks, and there's no sign that Uber or law enforcement has caught on to her. So she starts making accounts again. Winter passes without much fuss. And in the spring, Priscilla gets the news

she's been waiting for. Her green card's been approved. Everything is back on track. She even starts to think about starting a new, legit business. After all, the ride-share scheme was only supposed to be a temporary stopgap. Now, with a green card, she could do anything. Maybe she'll reboot Fit Express or something new, like a Brazilian barbecue restaurant. We'll never know how Priscilla would have handled going legit because just a few weeks later, Priscilla wakes up to banging on her door and her Yorkie barking wildly.

It's the FBI. They're charging her, along with 18 other Brazilian nationals, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. And out of the whole group, Priscilla made the most money, which makes her the biggest fish for the Feds. Priscilla shocked. And it wasn't even her activity that tipped off the Feds.

As it turns out, another Brazilian man was arrested a few months earlier for working under a stolen identity on Instacart. And Priscilla had sent him a template for a fake Connecticut driver's license after another mafia member had asked her to help him out. The digital connection was enough on Instacart. And Priscilla had sent him a template for a fake Connecticut driver's license after another mafia member had asked her to help him out. The digital connection was enough for the FBI to get a warrant for Priscilla's iCloud

account back in February, without her knowledge. By April, they'd started staking out her apartment and watching her movements. By the time the authorities barge through her door a few weeks later, they've got all the evidence they need. All that's left to find out is whether Priscilla's going to cooperate or put up a fight. While Priscilla awaits her hearing in jail, her sister flies to Boston and packs four suitcases full of her designer clothes to bring back to Brazil for safekeeping. Priscilla also had a friend transfer $30,000 back to her family before it can be seized from her accounts. The legal process drags on for the rest of the year.

And in February, 2022, Priscilla agrees to plead guilty and cooperate with the US government. As a part of this cooperation, she also has to agree to testify against the agency that arranged her sham marriage. And two months later, 11 people involved with that scam are also charged. Prior to Priscilla's sentencing hearing,

Uber submits a victim statement. Sarah, will you please read part of it? Yeah, it says, The crimes committed by the defendants presented a potential safety hazard for riders on Uber's platform, caused Uber to incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in investigative costs,

and exposed Uber to reputational harm, and further victimized the identity theft victims whose identities defendants wrongfully used on Uber's platform to steal money. I mean, yes, technically all true, but I just don't know if this harmed Uber's reputation in a big way. It was kind of their fault. Like someone exploited a flaw in their own system. And so, yeah, she did something wrong technically,

but I just don't feel Uber's pain here. Yeah. Well, the government estimates that Priscilla used more than 2,000 stolen identities as part of her scheme. And interestingly enough, none of the owners of these identities submit victim statements. They probably weren't thrilled to hear

that their identities had been used, but ultimately they weren't affected at all. besides receiving some confusing 1099 forms from Uber for work that they just didn't do. At her sentencing hearing, Priscilla cries and says she's ashamed of what she did, and she apologizes from the bottom of her heart to the people whose identities she used. Ultimately, the judge sentences Priscilla to three years in prison. She's already spent two years in jail awaiting trial at this point, so she figures with good behavior she'll only spend a few more months behind bars

before her time is served. Sure enough, Priscilla's sentence ends five months later, but her release is bittersweet. She's immediately arrested again as a material witness in the sham marriage agency case, and she's due to be deported once she gives her testimony. In the meantime, she's given an ankle bracelet while she awaits trial. After the sham marriage case wraps up in November 2023,

Priscilla applies for asylum, claiming she fears retribution from associates in both the marriage agency and Uber cases. She feels she's safer in the U.S., and as of this taping, she's still here, awaiting this decision. Priscilla came to the U.S. for a better life, but she got swept up in becoming Robin Hood, without considering that the sheriff might catch her. And now, no matter how many immigrants she may have helped over the years, it's likely that Priscilla will soon be on her way back to Brazil.

Maybe she'll find a way to take from the rich and give to the poor there. Or maybe she'll find a way to make a broken system work for her one last time. Sarah, this is obviously a scam artist that we want to root for. We want to be on her side. We're kind of on her side generally in spirit, but unfortunately in practice, we cannot be. Yeah, this episode was one of those where there is a scam.

It does involve a lot of people. It's definitely illegal. But there's an element of it where you're kind of like, I mean, is she that bad of a person? Like, did she do something unforgivable or that, like, she'll be a danger to people in the future? I do not think so. Yeah, I mean, the tough part about Priscilla's story is that she is like trying to enter the US by being a shrewd capitalist.

She is kind of learning like the lesson of like how to be an American, which is like find the loophole, exploit the loophole. Most of American commerce really encourage you, in fact, to find the loophole and to work around it. And she kind of did it. Unfortunately, she did it too hard and too well, and then she did fraud. Yeah. When she first got to America and got ghosted by someone offering her work for whatever reason, like, that was potentially

a very exploitative situation. And as bad as it is to steal people's identity. She wasn't exploiting the people that worked for her. Like, in fact, it maybe was like too good of an offer that she became very popular and very well known. Like she got caught, not because she wasn't good at covering her tracks. Like she got caught through someone else because she was so well known.

Which is kind of incredible. I guess I would say, like, most of her scam was, like, pretty defensible until she started to rip people's real identities off. But that said, actually, I don't know that that's true, because the reality is that she was putting people on the road who didn't have valid driver's licenses. And that is incredibly dangerous. Like, it's a dangerous thing to do to the rest of us

who are walking around and to some person who gets in a car. I mean, I take Uber several times a week. I would hope at minimum the person driving has a license, right? This also feels like a story about how there are no services for immigrants or for new Americans or for people who come to a country and maybe need help getting set up. Like there was nothing.

There isn't any sort of infrastructure so that they can get a driver's license that's valid and then they can work these jobs. Like it is so hard to make a life if you come to the states from a developing country and if you don't have established wealth. Like these are crimes that are born out of necessity. make a life if you come to the states from a developing country and if you don't have established wealth. These are crimes that are born out of necessity. Totally. And you've talked about this, even just how you got to America and the visa process and

the green card process. That takes a lot out of someone who has resources and will basically 100% likely get approved. So I think it's very easy for someone who doesn't know anyone of this experience to be like, there's always a way to do things right. But sometimes there isn't, and you kind of have to survive and not end up homeless. So what else are you going to do? Yeah. I came to the States on a work visa with money from Canada,

and I speak English, and I had a Canadian passport, and and I had lots of support and it was still so hard. I think the real scam here is Sachi. What is it? America. There we go. It is America. Okay, one last thing before we end today's episode. We wanted to share something exciting that we're working on for 2026. Yes, and I cannot wait. Next January, Sachi and I will be joining Wondry's exhibit C, A True Crime Cruise, yes, cruise, which will be sailing to Nassau, Bahamas between January 26 and 30th of 2026. This exclusive voyage offers fans unprecedented access to their favorite podcasts, true crime experts, interactive workshops,

and an opportunity for you to connect with other true crime fans. I am so excited to meet all of you on board. And pro tip, sign up for the presale before March 3rd to book your preferred cabin. Also, if you are an annual Wondery Plus subscriber and you're listening to us on Wondery Plus right now, you can get special on-board perks. You can learn a ton more about perks, payment plans,

onboard activities, and the other podcasters in the lineup at exhibitseacrews.com. Or we have a link in the episode notes. We'll see you in the Bahamas. If you like scam flincers, you can listen to every episode early and ad-free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts.

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondry.com slash survey. This is Priscilla Barbosa, the rideshare Robin Hood. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagge. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at scamfluencers at wondery.com. We use many sources in our research, including court documents and news releases from the FBI and Uber, along with Wired's Priscilla, Queen of the Rideshare Mafia, by Lauren Smiley, and articles from the New York Times and NBC 10.

Alex Burns wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Saachi Cole and Sarah Hackie. Olivia Briley and Eric Thurm are our story editors. Fact-checking by Lexi Peery. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Frison SYNC. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock.

Our senior managing producer is Callum Pluse. Janine Cornelow and Stephanie Jens are development producers. Our associate producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Pluse. Janine Cornelow and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie Magruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Enney and Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marsha Louie, and Erin O'Flaherty.

For Wondry. Hey everyone, Sachi here. And Sarah. You know those sketchy messages we all get, the job offers that seem too good to be true? Well we thought we'd seen every type of scam out there, but this story completely blew our minds. Those messages? They're actually coming from people trapped inside heavily guarded compounds forced to scam others at gunpoint.

Scam Factory, Wendry's riveting new series, exposes a multi-billion dollar criminal empire operating in plain sight. And this isn't your typical social media scam. Inside these compounds, armed guards ensure the only way out is to scam your way out. And trust us, after covering countless scams, this story left even us shocked. Follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can binge all episodes of Scam Factory early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+.