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How loophole costing just £70 a week allows migrants to skip background checks to work illegally for Deliveroo & JustEat

A DANGEROUS loophole is allowing migrants to work illegally for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats using the details of legitimate staff, a Sun on Sunday investigation can reveal.

Our undercover reporter posed as a recent Afghan migrant on Facebook forums dedicated to hiring food delivery drivers, to highlight how riders are subcontracting their accounts to people who do not have the right to work legally in the UK.

Just Eat delivery person on a bicycle waiting to cross the street.
Getty
A dangerous loophole is allowing migrants to work illegally for delivery companies including Just Eat[/caption]
Several bicycles parked outside a migrant hotel, one with a Uber Eats delivery bag.
Dan Charity
An Uber Eats bike bag outside a South London migrants’ hotel[/caption]
Migrants in a small boat at sea.
PA
Illegal immigrants could be attracted to jobs for firms such as Just Eat[/caption]

Within minutes he was offered the log-ins for company apps so he could receive orders in return for a fee — without any checks on who the driver really was.

We discovered some subcontract workers are migrants who are able to skip background checks and earn money illegally without the company they are riding for even being aware.

This subcontracting practice, known as substituting, is accepted by the delivery firms and allowed under their terms and conditions.

But no checks are made on who they are substituting to, and the loophole could be exploited by dangerous criminals to land jobs.

In 2022 Hampshire delivery rider Jennifer Rocha bit off a customer’s thumb in a row over a pizza but continued working for Deliveroo, even after the account she was using at the time was suspended.

The same year, convicted drug dealer Jordan Da Silva managed to work for Deliveroo.

His past was only exposed when he posted a video of him unwrapping a female customer’s anti-fungal cream in front of her, and he was recognised on social media.

No questions

In April, food delivery firms agreed to strengthen security checks to prevent illegal working.

Deliveroo said it has launched a substitute registration feature including right-to-work checks, Uber Eats said it would be launching identity verification checks while Just Eat said it was trying to “develop a solution which will ensure couriers substituting their work do so in accordance with the law”.

But after our reporter posted in the Facebook group asking to hire an account to do deliveries, he was offered Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat account details and log-ins for £70 to £100 a week, with no questions.

The registered drivers assured our reporter he would easily make that fee back and could expect an average of 42 hours a week earning £600 — around £14 an hour — by downloading an app, using their details to log into the system and get work.

One, Brian, agreed to hire out a Just Eat account for £140. He told our reporter it consisted of a £70 deposit and £70 for the first week’s use of the system, and said to take the cash to a run-down housing estate in Beckenham Hill, South London.

When our reporter said he didn’t have a UK bank account, he said: “We will get paid every Wednesday and I can give you it in cash. You can easily make £100 daily, working seven to eight hours. If you make £600 I’ll take £70 rent and I’ll give you £530. Nobody is going to check or ask you for anything. This is anonymous work.

Another user, Ricky, gave us an account to transfer £180 made up of an £80 deposit and £100 for the first week’s rental of his user details.

We made no payment for any account.

One Brazilian driver told us: “A person who has the right to work here opens as many accounts as possible, sometimes over 100.

Chatbot conversation showing how a refugee finds work. Text message conversation about setting up a bank account and paying rent. Restaurant ID check: No, just show the order and collect the food for delivery.  It's autonomous work. Deliveroo car account availability: £80 deposit, £100 weekly.

“From there, they offer these accounts to people who don’t have the right to work, then they work in another field that pays better, like construction. Illegal workers will happily accept a £3 order to an address three or four miles away.”

Migrants are even boasting about using the substituting loophole to get work.

One, from Chad in North Africa, detailed his journey to Europe in 2022 on TikTok.

In one post he shared a Union Flag and a rowing boat, indicating he had reached the UK on an illegal small boat.

And he showed the budget hotel near Heathrow Airport where he was living, and himself riding a bike carrying a Deliveroo bag, as well as buying designer gear.

In another hotel in South East London, where small-boat migrants are living, a resident, 32, from Pakistan said: “There are people here working as delivery drivers, but I’m not one of them. I don’t know how they get jobs as we don’t have work permits.”

And a Jordanian man, 53, said: “I want a job but I don’t have a work permit. If someone can find me a job as a delivery driver, I will take it.”

We showed our findings to industry expert Alfie Pearce-Higgins, a Deliveroo rider since 2021, who campaigns for better pay transparency for workers.

He said: “I’m not surprised by the scale of this — the practice is widespread. Anyone who wants an account can rent one easily without any checks. This undercuts the pay of legal, tax-paying drivers and can expose vulnerable people to exploitation.

“There is a very simple solution — remove the right of substitution, as Deliveroo recently did in Hong Kong. In my experience most drivers, customers and restaurants and supermarkets would support this.”

In 2023, a Home Office spot check found 42 per cent of riders were working illegally.

Deliveroo and Uber Eats have more than 120,000 official UK riders between them and Just Eat has tens of thousands — suggesting if it reached that scale, at least 50,000 food delivery workers could be working illegally.

Yvette Cooper, British Home Secretary, leaving Downing Street after a cabinet meeting.
EPA
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘The leading delivery firms have made repeated commitments to stamp out the abuse of driver substitution’[/caption]
Chris Philip, UK Shadow Home Secretary, at the BBC.
Alamy
Chris Philp said: ‘The Government must urgently step up immigration enforcement and checks to stop illegal employment, including in the gig economy’[/caption]
Deliveroo cyclist on a bike.
Deliveroo said it has launched a substitute registration feature including right-to-work checks

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The leading delivery firms have made repeated commitments to stamp out the abuse of driver substitution, but it is clear from these revelations they have not gone far enough.

“They need to get a grip on this fast as we cannot stand for this kind of abuse.”

And Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Our laws — including employment laws — should be respected.

“The Government must urgently step up immigration enforcement and checks to stop illegal employment, including in the gig economy.”

Our research shows counter-measures are having little effect.

We even found gangs offering “all-inclusive” illegal work packages that can be booked before a person has even reached Britain.

An Instagram post in Portuguese offers London accommodation, a motorcycle with insurance and fuel, an active Uber Eats account, plus food, for £500 a week, claiming it offers an £840 weekly profit.

A West London delivery driver added: “Three or four I know of are visa overstayers renting accounts and making good money. I think the food delivery accounts are accelerating the boat arrivals and providing a stepping stone to integrate into communities faster.”

WHAT ARE THE CHECKS?

WHEN a driver creates an account with a delivery firm, it checks their right to work, photo ID, Disclosure and Barring Service status for convictions, and insurance, if they are using a motorised vehicle.

Drivers pay nothing to the firms when they create an account with them and there are no minimum working hours, which is why there is no real justification for substitutes.

But all major firms allow substitutions, including Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and Stuart.

An Uber Eats spokesman said: “All couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK.

“Uber Eats has worked with the Home Office to launch additional identity verification and Right to Work checks to help ensure only those who legitimately use someone else’s account to deliver on the platform are able to.

“We are constantly reviewing these processes to ensure they are as robust as possible and if we receive reports that this is not the case we will investigate and take appropriate action.”

A Deliveroo spokesman said: “We take a zero-tolerance approach towards any rider who fails to meet their legal obligations.

“All riders have to have the Right to Work. If found to be in breach of their obligations, we will stop working with them with immediate effect.

“We have taken action to secure our platform and were the first to roll out direct Right to Work checks, a registration process and identity verification for substitutes.

“We are rolling out daily identity checks using facial recognition technology for all riders, including substitutes.

“We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening our controls and preventing misuse of our platform, with additional checks planned for next year.”

THEY CAN EARN £1,400 A WEEK

FOOD delivery workers claim they can make as much as £1,400 a week.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat do not publicly advertise pay rates.

But riders say they can earn large sums by picking the best-paying orders, working in areas with lots of restaurants, take-aways and grocery shops, and working at peak times.

If they take multiple orders from the same place or from outlets in the same area, they can do multiple deliveries per hour.

The delivery firm apps use an algorithm to determine earnings, depending on the number of orders collected, distance travelled and time taken to complete orders.

The algorithm also sets pay rates, based on how many drivers are online.

Jobs website Indeed states the average daily income of a Just Eat worker is £202, while Deliveroo riders average £14.99 per hour and Uber Eats drivers are estimated to earn up to £120 a day.

One Just Eat worker boasted on Indeed the work was “so simple… I usually get around £15-£20 an hour”.

An Uber Eats rider said they “easily earn over £500 per week working 40 hours”, while a Deliveroo rider claimed to have earned £1,400 in a week on a pedal bike, working 7am to 10.30pm.

Drivers can also earn money by substituting.

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Rita Ora will be great mum – she’s learned it all from me & we all absolutely love Taika, says her psychiatric mum Vera

POP star, actress and entrepreneur – over the years, Rita Ora has nailed all these roles.

But her mother Vera thinks the beauty could soon be ready to become a mum as well.

Rita Ora and her mother model Ora's new Primark collection.
The Mega Agency
Rita Ora and her mum Vera model the singer’s Primark range[/caption]
Rita Ora modeling her new Primark collection.
The Mega Agency
Rita models a dress from her high street collection[/caption]
Taika Waititi and Rita Ora at The Fashion Awards 2023.
Getty
The singer and husband Taika Waititi last year[/caption]

In her first newspaper interview, the Kosovan-born psychiatrist lifts the lid on the close relationship she has with her 34-year-old daughter.

Vera, 63, revealed: “Rita will definitely be a good mum. She had a good example with me. I think she loves children, so hopefully one day soon I’ll be a grandmother.”

Mum Vera and her husband Nik, a pub owner, are also parents to Elena, 36, and Don, 27.

Vera said: “I’ve always had a close relationship with Rita, as I do with my other daughter and son.

“We are a tight-knit family and I am so proud of that. We are open and feel like we can talk about anything together.

“Being a psychiatrist is, obviously, a separate job to being a mum, and I try to keep that way.

“However, it does help to keep my children grounded.

“We do talk about the cases and some of the unfortunate situations people can find themselves. So I feel it’s like a lesson to them to see both sides and stay down to earth.”

Two years ago, Rita — whose movie credits include the Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy — married New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, 49, a love match that Vera fully approves of.

She said: “We absolutely love Taika. He’s always so happy and funny, making everyone around him laugh.

“We love that. He seems to make Rita very happy, which is really nice. It’s so nice to see her smiling. That’s the most important thing for us.

“That’s all you want as a mum. Nothing else is that important.”

Vera laughs when I ask how many years she has been married to Nik.

She said: “We walked down the aisle 35 years ago. I know it sounds like a really long time, but it doesn’t seem that long to me.

“I think the secret to long and happy marriage is loving and respecting each other.

“It’s really important, and trusting each other. Love, respect and trust.”

‘Nice to see her smiling’

Despite Rita’s hectic lifestyle, Vera has noticed that she is becoming more aware of helping herself as she gets older.

While pictures of the star and her mum grace high street shop windows across the country as part of Rita’s latest Primark fashion campaign, Vera revealed: “I don’t see Rita slowing down. I don’t know if she’ll do that.

“But she does have a good knowledge and focus on self care, which I am so happy and pleased about. I am now learning from her.

“Self care is developing so quickly, and we are all becoming so much more informed.

“It’s getting better and more transparent — I’ve noticed that Rita drinks more water, does meditation and gets more sleep than ever.

“I am so happy and pleased for her that she is so organised and aware. Having a healthy lifestyle is important.”

Rita will definitely be a good mum. She had a good example with me. I think she loves children, so hopefully one day soon I’ll be a grandmother

Vera Ora

In 2005, Vera’s world was rocked when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

After chemotherapy and radiation, she had a partial mastectomy.

She has made a full recovery, but she and her daughters have become more aware of checking their breasts for lumps.

Vera said: “It’s very important. I always keep reminding my friends, family and even my patients, that it’s so important to checked early on.

“And that’s what happened with me. I was lucky as I was aware of how important it is to have regular check-ups for better prognosis.

“Fortunately, it’s all been good since, so I continue having regular check-ups.”

Vera and Besnik Sahatciu at the UNICEF Halloween Ball.
Proud parents Vera with Rita’s dad Nik in 2018
Rex
Rita Ora and her mother, Vera, in a portrait.
Primark
Vera said: ‘Rita will definitely be a good mum. She had a good example with me’[/caption]
Rita Ora and her mother model Ora's new Primark collection.
The Mega Agency
Vera said: ‘When she was designing this collection, she kept discussing it with me’[/caption]

After the ordeal, Rita experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered crippling panic attacks as she struggled to support her beloved mother.

The I Will Never Let You Down singer, who has her own hair care line, said: “I see these things saying check yourself for lumps, but my mother didn’t have a lump.

“She had a sharp pain, and she still went and got checked.

“I have done the BRCA test (the hereditary breast cancer test) and the gene test myself and, luckily, I don’t have the gene.

“But I still check myself regularly. Genetically, there was no history of breast cancer in my family before my mother, but she still got it.”

Vera regularly talks to her daughters about the disease and what they went through.

I was so excited to support Rita, and I genuinely love her new project and line. I wanted to share our connection and relationship with people

Vera Ora

She said: “Of course, when a parent gets ill, children are affected. There’s no doubt about it.

“I know it does generate anxiety, especially for the girls. But it’s a good reminder for them to be checked.

“And I reassure them that if you check yourself regularly, you shouldn’t be worried.

“It’s a really important message, so if I can help one woman, I’m happy with that.

We absolutely love Taika. He’s always so happy and funny, making everyone around him laugh

Vera Ora

“I just wanted to show other women that you can turn your life around. I know it’s a very touchy kind of illness, and it can affect your femininity and your confidence can be ruined.

“But you can bring yourself back. I want to show other women that we can do it.”

Vera loved modelling with Rita in the Primark campaign, stepping out in party wear and getting glammed up.

And she wants to encourage other women who are older to embrace their inner style.

‘I take pride in my looks’

Vera said: “I was very surprised that Rita asked me to take part.

“I was nervous to pose up for the campaign, as, obviously, I am not a model.

“But I was so excited to support Rita, and I genuinely love her new project and line. I wanted to share our connection and relationship with people.

“Style has always been my passion, so we always compliment each other on styling. So when she was designing this collection, she kept discussing it with me and it came about as a collaborative process. I think it’s so important that women take care of themselves and take pride in their appearance, as it can really help the way you feel about yourself.

“It has always been important for me to take care of myself. I do take pride in my looks and I do pay attention to that.

“It does start your day with a kind of a positive outlook. You feel better in yourself and more confident.

“And I think now it’s very important for women of my age to keep doing that.

“When you’re younger, you kind of do it naturally.

When you’re older, you just get on with your work and other obligations. We tend to forget about taking care of ourselves

Vera Ora

“But when you’re older, you just get on with your work and other obligations. We tend to forget about taking care of ourselves.

“So it’s amazing during the festive season to flourish — because it’s a happy time.”

Even though Rita is often away travelling the world with her glamorous lifestyle, Vera is safe in the knowledge that she has her sister by her side.

She said: “It’s amazing as Elena has always been with Rita.

“I think it’s very important for us as parents to be reassured that they’re together and they travel together. It’s less worry for us.

“Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t sleep all night long if I knew that she’s somewhere on the other side of the world.”

Now, Vera is looking forward to having all her children home for Christmas as a family.

She revealed: “We will be in London and together — which is most important.”

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How pioneering AI camera is targeting drink and drug drivers by detecting their behaviour

DRINK and drug drivers are being targeted with a pioneering AI camera.

The mobile tech can detect driving behaviour consistent with those who may be under the influence at the wheel.

Speed camera against a blue sky.
Drink and drug drivers are being targeted with a pioneering AI camera

Police further up the road can then stop the vehicle, talk to the driver and do a roadside test for alcohol and narcotics.

A trial is under way in Devon and Cornwall.

The Heads Up system was developed by Australian firm Acusensus, whose devices have previously been used to help police catch drivers using mobile phones at the wheel or not wearing seatbelts.

The firm’s UK boss Geoff Collins said: “We are delighted to be conducting the world’s first trials of this technology.

“We are all safer if we can detect impairment before it causes an incident that could ruin lives.”

Supt Simon Jenkinson’s team polices around 14,000 miles of roads in Devon and Cornwall.

He said: “Our officers cannot be everywhere.

“We’re committed to doing everything we can to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

“Embracing emerging technology such as these cameras is vital in that quest.”

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Dollar Tree’s $1.25 viral ‘Pickle-in-a-Pouch’ is flying off shelves – and shoppers can choose from three flavors

THIS spicy little number is flying off the selves this Christmas season – and there’s not a turkey in sight.

The jumbo pickle from Dollar Tree has customers hot under the collar.

Dollar-tree-pickle-in-pouch-flying-off-shelves
Dollar Tree
These spicy pickles come in three varieties and shoppers love them[/caption]

It’s the perfect addition to lunchboxes and adds a little pep to snack time.

The VanHolten Jumbo Hot Pickles are available in hot, sour and dill flavors.

They cost just $1.25 each – though you do have to buy at least a dozen at a time.

But that way you know you’ll always have one to hand.

Customers love them and they’re finding their way into lots of shopping baskets.

“I am buying my second dozen! Both my daughter and my son cannot get enough of them!” said one happy shopper.

And another wrote: “I think they get hotter the longer they’re in the pouch I love it!”

While a fan of the sour variety commented: “They are sure to satisfy pickle connoisseurs. They are not for the faint of heart.

“Best is you don’t have to refrigerate them and are easy to pack in lunches, for picnics, and camping.”

They’re available to buy in Dollar Tree stores and from the website.

FESTIVE BARGAINS

These aren’t the only items customers are loving at Dollar Tree this winter.

The discounter is known for its low prices, which has come in handy for Christmas décor, with a great selection of festive staples to up the holiday vibe.

A 9ft tinsel garland will add a glittery shine to your home and costs just $1.25 to buy, while sparkling snowflake strands add their magic for the same price.

If you’re still shopping for last-minute gifts then the retailer also has a range of low-cost stocking stuffers.

More viral items

Products prized by customers at Dollar Tree include:

They include BPure Body Lotion, which is available in three varieties: hydrating, illuminating and revitalizing.

“Love the lightweight feel. The scent is not overpowering. And it makes my skin so soft!” wrote one fan.

“These lotions are wonderful and comparable to a lotion that would cost 10x’s the amount.

“All the scents are light and wonderful and not overpowering at all,” commented another.

Dollar Tree’s cute Christmas socks are also popular, with the festive styles sure to make you smile.

Designs include Santa, reindeer, polar bears and Christmas trees – all in bright colors and cozy fabric.

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