Police investigating phone theft schemes using unwitting rideshare drivers in Gwinnett County

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Police in two Gwinnett County cities say Uber drivers are being used to steal newly delivered iPhones from porches as authorities try to find whoever is behind the high-tech thefts.

Just 17 minutes after a delivery driver dropped off a new iPhone 16 Pro Max at Bobby Howard’s Snellville front porch on October 18, an unknown woman arrived and picked it up.

“Honestly, I was mad,” Howard, a former Snellville city councilman, told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson.

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Watching from his home security camera, Howard initially thought he had witnessed the theft of his $1,200 phone.

However, the situation proved to be more complex: the woman seen on video told police she was an Uber driver who was following instructions from an unknown client.

Howard reported the incident to police later that day, initially assuming it was a straightforward case of package theft.

“I’m thinking, there goes $1,200 right down the drain,” Howard said.

But police later informed him that he was part of a sophisticated scheme involving third-party couriers like rideshare drivers, instructed remotely to pick up and send packages.

Detective Jeff Manley from the Snellville Police Department explained that two days after the incident, the Uber driver voluntarily came forward.

She stated she was carrying out an Uber package delivery by picking a package up from the Snellville home to then take to another location.

Immediately after picking up the package, Manley says the client called the driver to make an urgent request.

“Someone called her though and the person who called and said I am out of town, I need this package right away,” he said. “He said so if you ship it to me, I will give you a tip.”

After she took the box to a local shipping store and sent it to an out-of-state address, Manley says the mystery client deleted their Uber profile and did not send a tip to the driver.

“If there’s usually any changes in the delivery that should be suspicious automatically,” he said.

A similar incident, documented in a police report from Suwanee Police, involved an iPhone being taken minutes after delivery on October 23, also involving an unwitting Uber driver.

In that case, the driver spent a night in jail before Suwanee Police confirmed his innocence.

Howard has since received his phone but hopes his experience serves as a warning.

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“There are bad people doing bad things,” he said.

Suwanee and Snellville Police say they are collaborating to see if they can make any arrests.

“They probably have the tracking number, literally,” said Det. Manley. “So they know when it’s going to be delivered to your house down by the minute.”

In a statement from Uber, a spokesperson wrote: “We’re continuing to look into this and will take appropriate action. We stand ready to support law enforcement with their investigation.”

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