East Bay Dasher loses earnings, gets kicked off DoorDash after hackers take over his account

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- The popular DoorDash delivery service is warning drivers -- known as Dashers -- they may be targets of a new phishing scam. Imposters posing as DoorDash support staff claim to be helping drivers with their accounts. Really they're stealing their money.

It happened to an East Bay Dasher -- who not only lost his money, but got kicked off the DoorDash platform.

This viewer says it all began when his regular job at the port of Oakland slowed down and he needed extra cash. So he signed up to be a DoorDash driver -- even bought a new car. But it wasn't long before scammers struck: he lost his pay and his DoorDash job.

"There would be days that pretty much nothing would come off of those boats," said Timothy Johnson of Hayward. Johnson drives a truck here at the Port of Oakland, but with fewer ships unloading these days, he wasn't getting enough work.

"It's been really rough. it's been really rough," Johnson said.

And so Johnson signed up to be a DoorDash driver... even bought a hybrid car with heated seats.

"It would keep the food actually really really warm," Johnson explained.

And after work at the port, he'd switch to delivering food.

"I usually would get off around 3:30, 4 o'clock in the morning and I will go straight into DoorDashing. You know, I'm tired, I'm a little exhausted from work... I'm out there pretty late, grinding trying to make ends meet... You know, keep food on the table," he said.

It was going well -- until one day his DoorDash app shut him out. A message said, "Dasher must be active to schedule dashes."

He contacted DoorDash.

"'Oh we're gonna look into it, thank you for the information. We're working on it,'" Johnson said he was told.

But the next day, he got the same rejection. And when he checked his earnings, he found his money was gone. Someone had diverted his pay to a bank he'd never heard of.

"It sends you into a real world of worry, you know, how much is compromised... How far did this hacker get into my account?" he said.

DoorDash promised to investigate, sending forms to prove his identity. And he still had to appeal the decision to deactivate his account.

Weeks later, still no response.

And the car he'd purchased just for DoorDashing stood idle in a parking lot -- a big investment that wasn't paying off.

"It definitely depressed me in a lot of ways... you know, I work really hard at DoorDashing... I went through extreme lengths, you know, like buying a car just to be successful. It causes a lot of stress for someone that dashes till three in the morning," Johnson said.

He contacted 7 On Your Side.

"I've always been a big fan of Channel 7," Johnson said.

We told DoorDash about Johnson's plight. turns out he had apparently fallen for a phishing scam. imposters posing as DoorDash support had switched his banking information, and that raised suspicion.

A spokesperson said: "Mr. Johnson's DoorDash account was deactivated because of a fraudulent bank account associated with his account. We were able to identify and resolve the issue."

DoorDash returned his money, and now, Tim Johnson is back to delivering food.

"It was a relief, yeah, it was a relief. You're my hero. Thank you Channel 7," Johnson said.

DoorDash says it is warning drivers about this scam through emails and push notifications. If someone calls saying they're DoorDash support, hang up and contact the company directly through the app.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

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