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Twin Cities DoorDash Driver Warns Of Scheme That Lost Him Hundreds Of Dollars

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities DoorDash driver is delivering a warning to others after an elaborate scheme to drain the earnings from his account.

WCCO looked into why it took weeks for answers and a full refund and what the company says other drivers should watch for.

Mark Lee of Forest Lake would make a couple hundred dollars a week driving for DoorDash.

(credit: CBS)

"I thought, hey I have some extra time in the evenings or if I have nothing going on the weekends I could have fun making a little extra fun money or I could sit around watching TV," Lee said.

He seemed happy with the set-up until a phone call six weeks ago on a Sunday as he was picking up an order. A screenshot from that day shows the number appeared to be from DoorDash.

"They said, first off, just wanted to let you know that the person contacted us it was, she was just trying out DoorDash for the first time, mistakenly put in the order," he said.

That person told him they're refunding the customer the money and they'd pay Lee half the fee, which is standard practice when an order is canceled.

The caller then told him to click on a text to take him to the DoorDash site to get him paid.

"I'm still not thinking that this is a scam at this point," Lee said.

A few steps later and an e-mail states his bank information was changed. Only to later learn his weekly earnings of $252 were wiped out. Days later, he got in touch with DoorDash.

"We just want to let you know that you were hacked on this, make sure that you change your password," Lee said he recalled from that conversation.

At first, he's told he will be refunded.

"After the Fourth [of July] is all done, I still don't have the payment, so I called in again ... and they're like, 'We have no record of that call on Thursday and don't know what you're talking about,'" Lee said.

When WCCO started asking questions, a company spokesperson told us he'd be reimbursed.

"DoorDash takes the trust of our community very seriously, and we're committed to the security of those we serve," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Upon learning of the incident, we reached out to Mark to offer support and investigate the issue. We appreciate his patience as we ensure proper payment into the correct account."

The company also said it's implemented changes to secure their drivers' accounts, and for payout changes they established a two-factor authentication code via SMS. The code is then sent to the dasher, including a warning to not share the code with anyone, including with DoorDash, and that dashers are notified by e-mail every time there is a new login to their account.

"I want to make sure that other drivers know," Lee said.

Lee still isn't sure if he'll drive for DoorDash again but he believes the company needs to do more to keep drivers' accounts in the right hands.

Lee believes this particular scheme will target drivers on a Sunday since there is a lapse in payment and by the time drivers will notice, the money is gone from their accounts the following week.

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