HOUSTON – Chard Poage, a DoorDash driver, starts his day like most -- on the road.
“The money started being really good, really quick,” he said.
While hoping to feed his pockets, he got an order for a fast-food restaurant on Saturday.
“I went and I looked at my app to see what I was going to order and it said one piece of Texas toast,” Poage recalled. “It was $7.50 for a three-mile run.”
After picking up the order, he said he received a phone call.
The person on the other line claimed to be with DoorDash support.
The caller said they were verifying that Poage was making the delivery.
“He sent me a text message, it had a link, it gave me a six-digit code text message and he says we just sent you a six-digit code, can you give that code to me,” he recalled.
Poage said the caller knew specific details about the order so he complied. Seconds later, he got another text telling him his dasher account had been wiped, close to $200 gone.
“I freaked out for a minute,” Poage said.
Leah Napoliello is the Vice President of Operations at the Better Business Bureau in Houston. She says scammers are impersonating employers.
“They gain your trust, first of all, by pretending to be someone you trust. Whether it’s a friend or an employer,” she said.
She says don’t click on links if you don’t personally know the sender.
“The best thing to do is to reach out to your employer directly using the contact information that you have in your records,” she said.
KPRC 2 called the number that called Poage and received a no longer in service message.
A spokesperson with DoorDash said they have refunded Poage, and asked us to share the following tips:
- Never share your personal information - If you receive a request for your password, security code, or other account details do not share this information -- even if the request appears to come from Support, or the person knows specific details about your order.
- Create a strong password - a unique password should contain a mix of words, numbers, symbols, and upper and lower case letters. Avoid using generic words such as “password” or “DoorDash”. Do not use your birthday or social security number.
- Report suspicious activity - If any user suspects fraudulent activity, they should immediately contact customer support to help resolve the issue.
As for Poage, he’s back on the road, but not taking any chances.
“I went out yesterday, but it has prevented me from leaving money in my dasher direct account,” he said.
DoorDash said they have dealt with other users falling victim to a phishing scam. They said they regularly send out communications on cyber safety.