A Dallas Express investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting that some Muslim and Mexican immigrant drivers at DFW Airport may be operating as part of an organized network using multiple electronic devices, fraudulent driver accounts and GPS manipulation to control rideshare traffic.
The DX Brief
- A veteran Uber driver said DFW’s airport queue displayed a wait of zero to 15 minutes, but he received no rides for more than 45 minutes. He said regular Uber requests resumed after he left the airport’s geofenced queue.
- DX documented drivers using multiple phones and tablets, vehicles with partially obscured plates, and one man denying that he had a work permit, green card or H-1B visa.
- Federal prosecutors have charged rideshare schemes involving fraudulent or rented accounts, GPS spoofing, bots and hacked phones that allowed drivers to enter airport queues while physically elsewhere. A separate November 25, 2025 DFW-area driver post alleged that phones were left inside a stationary vehicle to preserve queue positions.
- DX has not established that any specific driver filmed at DFW committed fraud. The investigation is examining whether coordinated drivers are manipulating the airport queue and diverting rides from other drivers.
- Uber, Lyft and DFW International Airport did not respond before publication.
The investigation began after a veteran Uber driver reported repeatedly receiving no airport ride requests while waiting inside a designated DFW rideshare lot. He said regular Uber requests resumed after he left the airport’s geofenced queue.
“We waited there over 45 minutes,” the driver told The Dallas Express, despite the app displaying an estimated wait time of zero to 15 minutes. “We’ll sit there, and it won’t ring.”
“This has been happening for over a year,” the driver said. “I was not getting more rides despite being at the top of the queue.” He added, “How does it make sense? If they are getting the same message as I am, how do they stay on top?”
Several drivers confronted DX after questions about multiple devices and suspected queue manipulation, prompting DFW Airport Police to respond. During the exchange, one man denied having a work permit, green card or H-1B visa before another individual intervened and pulled him away from the interview.
DX also recorded a large group praying together in the DFW rideshare staging area before returning to their vehicles.
Veteran driver describes yearlong queue problems
A veteran Uber driver, whose name DX withheld because he feared retaliation that could affect his rideshare income, told The Dallas Express that the suspected problem has persisted for more than a year.
The driver said Uber and Lyft use two designated geofenced staging areas for DFW Airport rides: the Terminal E Uber/Lyft Queue and an airport staging lot on Freeport Parkway near the DFW Marriott.
When drivers enter one of the geofenced areas, the Uber app recognizes their location and automatically places them into the DFW Airport Queue, according to the driver. He said the app displays an estimated wait time, the number of vehicles in the queue and the driver’s position in line.
“You should be getting rides nonstop. If the wait is short, we’ll get rides,” the driver said.
Under the suspected manipulation, however, he said, “We’ll sit there, and it won’t ring.”
During one visit, the driver said he waited more than 45 minutes despite an estimated wait time of zero to 15 minutes and remained at the top of the queue without receiving additional requests.
Under normal conditions, he said, airport rides arrive quickly.
“It’s instant. You’ll catch a ride,” he said.
The driver said he has repeatedly reported the issue to Uber.
“I have multiple recordings of me reporting this to Uber. I have called Uber Support and reported this multiple times,” he said.
The driver said declining a ride request normally moves a driver to the bottom of the airport queue. He alleged that some drivers consistently remain near the top without losing their position.
“You see them on their tablets and their phones,” he said.
The driver said some Uber drivers have stopped waiting at the airport because of the delays. He also provided screenshots from other drivers and posts from a DFW-area Uber group describing similar concerns.
Two Burmese drivers who identified themselves as refugees told DX that they received only one ride during approximately seven hours at DFW Airport.
A November 25, 2025 post in a Dallas-Fort Worth Uber and Lyft drivers group described an alleged arrangement in which six or seven drivers gathered around a stationary minivan, placed two phones inside the vehicle and then left to complete airport rides while one device allegedly maintained their position in the queue. The anonymous poster asked why Uber had not acted. DX has not independently verified the poster’s identity or every detail in the account.
The driver’s account and the social media post do not independently establish that another driver manipulated Uber’s system. However, federal prosecutors have documented nationwide schemes that used fraudulent rideshare accounts, modified phones and fake GPS locations to gain an advantage over legitimate drivers.
Multiple devices observed at DFW
During several visits to DFW Airport, The Dallas Express observed groups gathered in rideshare staging areas with numerous smartphones and tablets.
Video recorded by DX shows one person with at least three visible smartphones, including devices displaying active app screens. Other footage shows drivers using multiple phones and tablets near Terminal E.
The presence of multiple electronic devices does not by itself prove fraud. Rideshare drivers may use separate devices for different platforms, navigation, translation, communication or entertainment.
One rideshare driver told DX that the number of devices appeared unusual.
“Some of them have two devices, three devices. I don’t know what’s going on here,” the driver said, adding that he believed only one phone should be necessary to receive rides.
Driver denies having work permit
During the confrontation shown in the opening video, one man denied having three specific forms of immigration or employment documentation.
“Are you on a work permit?” he was asked.
“Me? No,” the man replied.
“Not on a work permit?”
“No.”
“A green card?”
“No.”
“H-1B?”
“No.”
Another individual then intervened, placed an arm across the man and pulled or guided him away from the interview.
The exchange does not establish whether the man held another immigration status or another form of employment authorization. It also does not independently establish whether the rideshare account he was using, if any, belonged to him.
The absence of a visa or green card alone does not conclusively establish that a person is unlawfully present or lacks employment authorization. Federal immigration law includes several other categories through which a person may remain in the country or receive permission to work.
Many of the drivers DX attempted to interview spoke limited English or none at all. DX also recorded vehicles with bicycle racks obscuring license plates, while sources alleged that some drivers may lack lawful work authorization.
Federal cases reveal account-rental operations
The Justice Department has prosecuted several organized rideshare schemes in recent years involving methods similar to those alleged by drivers at DFW.
Federal prosecutors charged 19 Brazilian nationals in 2021 with allegedly creating fraudulent Uber, Lyft and delivery accounts using stolen identities. Prosecutors said members rented or sold the accounts to drivers who might not otherwise qualify to work through the platforms.
The alleged operation used stolen driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers, altered identification photographs and coordinated account rentals. Prosecutors also alleged that members used bots and GPS spoofing to manipulate rides and collect fraudulent referral payments.
Fourteen defendants later faced identity-theft charges connected to the broader case.
Federal prosecutors secured several convictions and sentences. Thiago De Souza Prado received a 70-month federal prison sentence in 2023 after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the Justice Department.
In a separate case announced in August 2024, federal prosecutors charged two men with providing hacked phones and manipulated applications to more than 800 rideshare drivers.
The software allegedly allowed participating drivers to falsify their GPS locations, enter airport queues while physically elsewhere, capture surge fares and view passenger destinations before accepting trips. Prosecutors alleged that participating drivers earned more than $40 million through the operation.
Possible queue manipulation
GPS spoofing involves causing an application to report a device at a false location. In an airport rideshare system, a spoofed device could potentially appear inside a designated waiting area even when the driver or vehicle remains elsewhere.
That could artificially occupy queue positions and allow a participant to compete for airport rides without physically following the same staging procedures as other drivers.
The veteran Uber driver said the activity appeared to prevent legitimate drivers from receiving trips while they waited inside the lot.
“I was not getting more rides despite being at the top of the queue,” he said. “How does it make sense? If they are getting the same message as I am, how do they stay on top?”
Spanish-speaking drivers said ride requests sometimes failed to arrive as expected. When asked whether signal blockers could be involved, they agreed and said other drivers were taking rides from them.
GPS spoofing and signal jamming are different practices. Spoofing reports a false location to an application, while jamming intentionally interferes with authorized radio signals.
Federal law prohibits operating, marketing or selling equipment that interferes with authorized radio communications, including cellular and GPS signals, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Questions about centralized control
The combination of multiple devices, groups of drivers and the tipster’s reported queue problems raises questions about whether one or more organizers may be managing accounts or dispatching drivers.
Previous federal prosecutions describe operations in which organizers obtained stolen identities, created rideshare accounts and rented those accounts to drivers. Organizers collected account fees, referral payments or portions of the rideshare earnings.
One California federal case involved accounts created with stolen driver’s-license and Social Security information and then used, rented or sold to people who might not otherwise qualify to drive, according to the Justice Department.
DX’s ongoing investigation is examining who owns and controls the observed devices, whether the drivers use accounts registered in their own names, whether one person assigns rides or distributes phones, whether drivers pay account-rental fees or surrender part of their earnings, whether devices remain inside the airport queue while associated drivers or vehicles are elsewhere, and whether rideshare proceeds flow to a central organizer.
Vehicles with obscured plates
DX also observed several vehicles equipped with rear-mounted bicycle racks that partially obscured their license plates. Texas law does not automatically treat a bicycle rack installed in a normal or customary manner as an unlawful plate obstruction.
Similar conduct has drawn scrutiny elsewhere. A Florida television investigation reported that some Uber and Lyft drivers allegedly used bicycle racks in a manner similar to what DX witnessed at DFW to prevent toll cameras from reading their plates while passengers still paid toll-related charges through the rideshare platform.
Reporters confronted in staging lot
When DX reporters approached one group to ask about the devices and rideshare activity, several people demanded that they leave.
“Hey, f*** you. Get the f*** out of here,” one man said.
“Get out of here,” another person said.
“You stupid or what?” another said.
One individual also told a reporter, “You look like you are Mexican.”
DFW Airport Police responded after someone called officers to the staging area. Video shows officers telling those present that DX could remain in the public area while gathering information.
Some members of the group later followed the reporters as they moved through the area.
Companies and airport asked to respond
Texas law requires transportation network companies to verify that prospective drivers meet licensing, registration, insurance, driving-record and background-check requirements before allowing them onto a digital network under Chapter 2402 of the Texas Occupations Code.
Using an account created in another person’s identity could allow the actual driver to evade those safeguards.
The Dallas Express asked Uber and Lyft whether they have detected account sharing, identity substitution, GPS spoofing or coordinated queue manipulation at DFW Airport.
DX also asked the companies to explain why a driver might receive no airport requests while inside the designated waiting lot but begin receiving regular Uber requests after leaving the geofenced airport queue.
DX contacted Uber, Lyft and DFW International Airport regarding the allegations and observations.
Uber, Lyft and DFW International Airport did not respond before publication.
DX is continuing to examine footage, interview drivers and seek records concerning airport queue enforcement, rideshare permits, obstructed plates and suspected account fraud.
Provided by Dallas Express
