Florida Lyft Driver Accused Of Using AI-Generated Photos To Claim Fake Damage Fees From Riders

A Lyft driver in Florida, USA, has been caught using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to fake damage to his car and charge riders extra for cleaning fees. The incident took place on Saturday (May 16) when a Boca Raton resident, Bert Gor, received a fraud alert from his bank. The driver allegedly submitted photos to Lyft claiming the Gor's teenage daughters left a mess in the backseat, which included spilled drinks, fries, and a large yellow stain across the seats.

Gor had been charged a $75 damage fee from Lyft, which he swiftly declined before asking his daughters, who had taken a cab ride from the beach earlier in the day.

“I reach out to, you know, my girls, I have a 14- and 15-year-old that had been to the beach earlier and so I'm like, ‘Hey, did you guys take Lyft today?' And they're like, yeah,” Gor was quoted as saying by WPBF 25 News.

Gor highlighted that his daughters did not have any food or drinks with them, which added to the mystery of the mess left behind in the cab.

“They were in their towels coming back from the beach. And they said, well, you know, we verify everything with the drivers, and the driver, you know, sent us pictures. And I said, well, I asked them to send me the pictures,” Gor said.

After analysing the pictures, one of Gor's daughters quickly pointed out that it was AI-generated as it had the Gemini logo on the bottom right-hand side.

“I'm like, ‘Oh my God, you're right.' So, I tell them, I said, ‘Hey, you know, matter of fact, these photos are AI generated,'” Gor said.

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A Lyft representative agreed with Gor's findings and admitted that the images were created using AI. Lyft issued an apology to Gor and blocked the cheating driver from its app.

“We have reviewed the rider's concerns, offered reimbursement, unpaired the rider and driver, and addressed the matter directly with the driver,” the company said.

Gor said he shared the incident in public to raise awareness so a similar scam does not happen to someone else.

“If you're not paying attention to this and you know, you're getting charged, $75, I mean, you know, it can really add up. So, you've really got to pay attention,” Gor said.