Food delivery services have offered incentives for first-time users for years, but recently, returning customers have found ways to take advantage of them, too. By creating new accounts under different names on these services, regulars can take advantage of promotions offered to first-time users. Among these services are Postmates, which offers 50% off one’s first five meals; Uber Eats, which bids a $25 discount for one’s first order; and Doordash, which slashes 30% off one’s first delivery.

While these discounts provide great incentives for customers, dishonestly taking advantage of them can violate several aspects of Halacha. Sheker, lying, is a Torah prohibition. By creating fake accounts and registering as a first-time user, one lies to these delivery services and thus transgresses the prohibition of sheker. Additionally, an issue arises of gezeilas akum, stealing from a non-Jew. Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, and the Rambam, the author of the Mishneh Torah, understand stealing from non-Jews to be prohibited directly by the Torah. Through the exploitation of promos, one is stealing money from companies such as Postmates or Uber Eats by receiving undeserved discounts.

There is also the prohibition of giving someone a false impression, geneivas da’as. The classic

example in the Shulchan Aruch is if a host opens a new barrel of wine to give his guests the false impression that it was opened for their sake, when in reality, the host chose to do so for a different reason but let them believe otherwise. Rashi believes geneivas da’as is considered geneivah miderabanan, a rabbinic classification of stealing while the Smag writes that geneivas da’as is considered geneivah mide’oraisa, theft transgressing against a Torah prohibition. Irrespective of its classification, by creating multiple accounts, an individual pretends to be multiple people and deceives the company; therefore, this is ultimately a transgression of geneivas da’as.

Lastly, there is a general command to act honestly, yashrus, without deception. In Parshat Va’etchanan, the Jewish people are commanded: “You will do what is considered right and good in the eyes of God” (Devarim 6:18). Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, in his Sefer Ha’emek Ha’davar, explains that the entire Sefer Bereishit is referred to as Sefer Ha’yashar, the Book of the Straight. This title highlights the upstanding nature of our forefathers, a lofty goal yet still one that everyone should aspire to achieve. Therefore, the deception involved in this method of procuring cheaper food is clearly both deceitful and dishonest.