21 year old David Smith, from Connecticut, allegedly figured out a way to extract large quantities of cash from drivers with a scam stretching back to 2020. Incredibly, this means it all began when he was 18. There’s picking up a new hobby, and then there’s this.
The theft would begin by placing a bogus DoorDash order, receiving the driver details, and then contacting said driver by text and / or phone claiming to be DoorDash support. From here, the driver would be convinced to hand over banking details or log in to a fake portal. The end result would be a loss of funds, and potentially not being able to do their job.
A typical example of how the scam would play out is highlighted in the
Stamford Advocate. One driver on her way to a supermarket received a text which advised her not to complete her current order. A call followed, with the individual claiming to be from DoorDash support. He claimed a scam was being perpetuated by drivers, and he needed to make sure that she wasn’t involved.
It seems the only reason law enforcement has a name for this case at all is by sheer chance, after stumbling upon $700,000+ inside lockboxes while
investigating an unrelated incident. At this point in time, it's not clear that all of the 700 drivers will get their lost funds back.
