With more and more people working for popular ride-hail and food delivery applications each year, customer safety is becoming a growing concern.
Working for apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash have a relatively low barrier of entry, and verification of folks working for said applications are generally done entirely through one’s smartphone or computer, providing a fully remote on-boarding process.
While this might be a cause of alarm for some folks who are worried that there’s someone with bad intentions moonlighting as a delivery driver under a false identity, one Uber Eats driver highlighted a way the company tries to verify its independent contractors are who they say they are. At least, that’s what he thought happened.
In a trending clip that he posted to TikTok, Jake Benun (@eatt.train.sleepp) says that he went to pick up an Uber Eats order, which consisted of a pie from McDonald’s, and he would get $4 for the order. He was asked to wait in a parking lot and when he called the phone number associated with the account, someone picked up stating that they were from Uber Support, and that they were just attempting to verify who he was.
However, when Jake posted about his experience on TikTok, many folks said that he was on the receiving end of a scam.
@eatt.trainn.sleepp Something you didnt know about driving Uber Eats!😮#ubereats #delivery #sidehustle @ubereats ♬ Vlog – Soft boy
Jake says in the video: “So something you may not know about Uber Eats and I figured this out last week while I was driving for one of the first times when you first sign up, they will send you a delivery that’s not actually a delivery that someone ordered. So they send you a delivery that they ordered so my delivery was at McDonald’s and it was for… some sort of pie that they have. So I was like four bucks but it was right down the road so I was like all right whatever. So I accepted the order and I go to drop it off but it’s in the parking lot of this random restaurant and the order says wait in your car, so I text the number I have and call the person that’s supposed to be picking it up and guess who answers? Uber Eats. And he says, ‘Are you on such and such order?’ I’m like yes, cool, and he’s like ‘So actually this is a test order and so we just wanted to make sure you are you and you’re driving the vehicle that you said,’ so he asked me a couple security questions and so, I guess they verify like that you’re who you say you are and you’re actually doing what you’re doing which is crazy.”
Jake decided to call up Uber Support’s direct line in a follow-up live video on TikTok and see what they had to say about his phone call with the customer. The representative on the phone said that the company doesn’t do this: “We don’t actually do that. We don’t reach out to the drivers, normally we have the drivers call us and we don’t ask for your details as well since we already have all your details on our end.”
Jake went on to say in the video while he was on hold that the scammer customer service representative asked if he wanted to be part of a promotion where if he completes 75 deliveries he would get a bonus and that he was supposed to receive a follow-up call from them at a later time. They called a few days later, however, he didn’t answer. The actual Uber rep, when back on the line, said that he flagged Jake’s previous delivery transaction and the account it came from.
A number of commenters who saw Jake’s post warned him that it might be a scam and urged him not to share any of his private details and information with the individual who placed the McDonald’s order. “Man they got you! It’s a scam they now have your information. Uber doesn’t do that!”
Someone else penned, “That was a scam for sure. I know because it happened to me.”
There were others who wished that Uber would legitimately test their drivers, however, to ensure that they are who they say they are on their driver profiles: “Tbh UberEats really should be testing drivers. I got so many orders delivered by different people and in the wrong car.”
In the comments section of Jake’s follow-up video, he wrote that he was ultimately paid the money he was owed in his account that could’ve been compromised by the scammer. Uber has a page dedicated to how customers should handle an Uber driver impersonating someone else, i.e. driving under another person’s account.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jake via TikTok comment and Uber via email for further information.
