BOCA RATON, Fla. — A Boca Raton father says a Lyft driver used artificial intelligence to fabricate photos of car damage and charge his daughters a $75 damage fee after a trip home from the beach.
Bert Gor said his daughters and their friend had been at Red Reef Park and then ordered a Lyft ride home. He said he never expected what came next — a fraud alert from his bank and a damage charge.
WATCH: RIDE SHARE DRIVER USES AI PIC SHOWING FAKE DAMAGE
"I get a fraud alert from my phone from Chase saying that I have an unrecognized charge from Lyft," Gor said.
Gor said the $75 charge came after his daughters were accused of leaving a mess inside the vehicle. His first instinct was to hold them accountable.
"In my mind I'm thinking these girls are grounded for the whole weekend, because him thinking they did something to the car," Gor said.
But his daughters pushed back. "My daughter swears up and down, 'No dad we didn't',” Gor said.
Gor contacted Lyft, which initially sided with the driver. He then asked for the evidence — and that's when his daughter spotted something unusual in the photos.
"As my daughter is standing over my shoulder she's like ‘Dad that's not us’. She's like ‘That's AI’,” Gor said. “And she points to it and it's the AI hologram on the photo and I'm like oh my God you're right.”
After Gor pointed out the AI-generated imagery, he says Lyft agreed and apologized. The company reimbursed the family and permanently removed the driver from the platform.
WPTV Reporter Zitlali Solache reached out to Lyft requesting clarity on how driver-submitted fees are reviewed and whether this incident is leading to any policy changes, but only received the statement below, from a Lyft spokesperson saying:
"Lyft takes damage disputes seriously and reviews each matter based on the available information. We have reviewed the rider's concerns, offered reimbursement, and permanently removed the driver from the platform."
Gor said he does not want retaliation but hopes the incident serves as a warning to other riders about how AI can be used in harmful and deceptive ways.
"You gotta pay attention to what's being charged on there because if the fraud alert didn't catch it I would've missed it myself," Gor said.
He now has a new rule for his daughters.
"We kinda said, just take a picture of the car when you get out of the car and then this way we never have to worry about any of this stuff again," Gor said.
Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalist to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.
