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She Made $10,000 a Month Defrauding Apps like Uber and Instacart. Meet the Queen of the Rideshare Mafia
Priscila Barbosa came to the US with a dream of making it. Using gig-economy platforms she built a business empire up from nothing. There was just one huge problem.
A flight across the equator later, and the momentary meltdown at JFK shaken off, Barbosa hurtled north from New York City to Boston on a Peter Pan bus, fervidly scrolling through Facebook groups dedicated to Massachusetts' large Brazilian community, tapping out DMs and dialing numbers. In October, Barbosa posted a humblebrag on Instagram to mark six months in the US: “Thankful every day that I had such courage and audacity.” She had reasons to be proud: From being stranded with $117 at JFK, she’d moved into a better apartment and had already sent enough money back to Brazil to pay her parents’ bills and nearly clear her own debts. In February 2022, Barbosa sat in her Rhode Island prison cell, reading two packets of papers: one agreement to plead guilty to felony identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, another to cooperate with the US government.
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