FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) — Three weeks ago, a DoorDash driver was able to recover his earnings from a scam.
After the dasher’s story was released, a dozen more came forward saying they were victims too. CBS47 On Your Side contacted DoorDash to attempt to help the drivers who had lost hundreds of dollars worth of earnings.
The scheme starts with a spoof call. A scammer poses as someone else with caller ID reading DoorDash Support.
“If you get a DoorDash support ID, don’t answer it, because your whole bank account, your whole week of hard-earned money might be gone,” said Jose Bautista, a driver in Tulare.
He says the caller seemed legitimate, even verifying the driver’s order information.
“He knew my order, he knew the customer, the merchant I was going to, he knew everything so I thought it was legit,” Bautista said.
DoorDash says the caller is, in fact, the customer, explaining how they are able to verify those details. They gain the driver’s trust and access to their accounts.
“I get an email talking about $1,041 dollars has been transferred to an external account,” Bautista said.
With four children to provide for, Bautista lost his week’s worth of pay.
“A couple of days later I had bills to pay, so I got behind on rent and my car, almost lost my car, my house,” Bautista said. “It was hard.”
Jose is one of a dozen drivers who reached out to us and Soms, from Fresno, is another.
“I got an email from DoorDash saying my bank account has been changed,” Soms said.
Soms has been a driver for several years.
“I’ve been a 5-star driver for the last 2-3 years, never had a problem with my account,” he explains.
Soms says he never had a problem with his account until he fell victim to the scam too. He lost $911 dollars, money that was meant to go toward rent and bills.
“When I didn’t see that money in my account, I was like ‘Okay, what do I do.'”
Jose, Soms, and others reached out to CBS47 On Your Side. When contacted, DoorDash immediately responded and has since reimbursed these drivers.
In a statement, DoorDash says they take “the safety and security of our community extremely seriously.”
“We are constantly improving our defenses to try to stay ahead of bad actors,” representatives from DoorDash said. “We are speaking with dashers involved to better understand their situations and support however we can.”
They urge drivers to never give away account information or passwords to further prevent these scammers from getting away with their employees’ money.
CBS47 On Your Side thanks DoorDash for reimbursing thousands of dollars to the drivers who reached out.
If you need CBS47 On Your Side, email onyourside@cbsfresno.com.
