I've never been involved in theft or fraud, and I'm not saying I would have done the same thing, but what seems less wrong:
1. scam a few bucks out of a faceless megacorporation (with an annual revenue of half a billion) to get paid for doing his job
2. leave somebody stranded and helpless in the Utah wilderness because they had the misfortune of being dumb and poor at the same time.
I guess there's a third option, which would be rescue them for free, but you won't be running a business for long by running it that way.
It's a shit sandwich, but I feel less bad about AAA taking the bite than Matt or his client.