DoorDash Scams

DoorDash scams are a headache many Dashers have had to deal with. There are countless stories of drivers getting scammed for thousands of dollars by unscrupulous thieves. Here’s a news story of a driver that lost $1,000 to a scammer. Here’s another one where a driver lost nearly $2,000. It can be a devastating amount of money for anyone to lose.

Fortunately, if you’re careful and follow the advice in this post, you can make sure you don’t fall for any of these scams.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the most common DoorDash scams, how they work, and what you should do so you don’t fall victim to any of these scams.

While there are countless scams possible, most of them work in the same way. Here are the main scams you should be aware of if you’re a Dasher.

1. The Fake Customer Service Rep Scam

This is the most common scam that Dashers fall for and can be the most devastating financially. In this scam, the scammer places a small order at a nearby restaurant. The order will typically be for something like a soda or a cookie at Mcdonald’s or a similar fast-food restaurant.

After the Dasher accepts the order, the scammer then calls the Dasher and pretends to be a DoorDash customer service representative. Because the scammer placed the order themselves, they know your name and the order details, which they use to convince you that they work for DoorDash. For example, they’ll call and say, is this “your name?” Then they’ll say, I’m calling about your current order for “customer name.”

Typically, the scammer will tell you that there’s an issue with your account or with the order and that you’ll need to cancel the order and secure your account. They’ll then ask you to provide your login details and read back any two-factor authentication codes that are sent to you. By doing this, the scammer can gain access to your DoorDash account (since you’ve given them your login details). The scammer then changes the bank account you have on file to their own, then cashes out your earnings. If you have a sizeable balance built up, you can lose a huge amount of money.

Fortunately, DoorDash has taken steps to reduce the impact of this scam. The most important thing they’ve done is made it so that there’s a waiting period between when you change your bank account and when you can cash out your earnings. This waiting period effectively stops most scammers from immediately stealing your money, although they can still get your money if you don’t notice the change.

The most important thing you can do is to never give your account information to anyone claiming to be a DoorDash representative. DoorDash has made it clear they will never ask for your login information. If you do receive a call like this, your best bet is to immediately hang up, then contact DoorDash support. DoorDash will likely pay you for the order and will ban the scammer’s DoorDash account.

2. The Customer Says You Didn’t Deliver Their Food

The second most common DoorDash scam is where the customer makes a false claim that they didn’t receive their order.

Customers do this for one reason – they want to get free food. By claiming they didn’t receive their order, DoorDash will likely refund them or give them a credit. In turn, this scam hurts Dashers, who can get terminated over these false claims. Restaurants are also hurt by this scam because DoorDash may do a chargeback on the restaurant to cover the cost of the meal.

Unfortunately, this is something you will likely deal with at some point if you deliver with DoorDash. The best way to avoid this is to have a good delivery record on DoorDash. I have thousands of successful deliveries under my belt and a high customer rating, so a claim by a customer that I simply didn’t deliver their order doesn’t hold as much weight since it seems out of character for my account.

Another thing you can do to avoid getting hurt by this scam is to document your deliveries. Some Dashers wear body cams or GoPro cameras while they are Dashing. This gives video evidence you can use to support yourself in case a customer makes a false claim.

If you have a feeling a customer might try to lie about a delivery, taking photos of the food at the delivery location can also be helpful. If I have a bad feeling about a delivery, I’ll always snap a photo of the food at the address, then text it to the customer. This lets the customer know I documented the delivery and gives me photographic evidence that I delivered the food.

A lot of customers these days request contactless delivery, which is good for Dashers because it sends photo evidence to the customer and DoorDash showing the food was delivered.

When a customer makes a false claim like this, DoorDash will send you a contract violation notice in the app saying that a customer says they didn’t receive their order. You’ll be able to provide a response to DoorDash in the app explaining your side of the story. Be thorough with what you did and provide any evidence to support yourself. For the most part, DoorDash won’t deactivate you unless this becomes a recurring issue (in other words, one claim that you didn’t deliver an order isn’t going to get you deactivated).

I recently had an issue where a customer falsely claimed I didn’t deliver an order.

One thing I don’t recommend doing is confronting the customer. There are a lot of viral videos out there of Dashers confronting customers that made these false claims. While it can be satisfying to yell at a customer for lying about a delivery, it’s always going to end up worse for you. If the customer complains to DoorDash about you confronting them, you’re likely going to get deactivated. Don’t confront customers. Just explain to DoorDash what happened and provide all the evidence you can.

Unfortunately, DoorDash rarely does anything to help you, even after you provide all the supporting information to them. That being said, unless this happens a lot, DoorDash likely won’t do anything to you.

DoorDash’s response to me after I provided supporting information to show I had delivered the order.

3. The Customer Picks Up The Food Before The Driver Gets There

The final DoorDash scam that you should be aware of is when a customer places an order on DoorDash, then goes to the restaurant and picks up the food before you get there. Since they know the name on the order, they’ll ask for the order as if they are the Dasher picking up the food. When you arrive, the food won’t be there anymore and the customer gets to cancel the order and get a free meal.

Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to avoid this scam. All you can do is contact DoorDash support and let them know that the food was already picked up. You should get a half-payout when this happens, so you’ll at least get something for your time.

Final Thoughts

These are the main DoorDash scams you should be aware of when you are working as a Dasher. Follow the tips in this post and you shouldn’t have any issues with these DoorDash scams.

If you’ve encountered other DoorDash scams that are worth mentioning, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

More Recommended Ebike/Scooters

Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:

GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.

More Recommended Investing App Bonuses

For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:

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More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses

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Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link.
Brex. Brex is a free business cash management account that is currently offering new users a $250 Amazon gift card if you sign up using a referral link and meet certain requirements.
M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $50 for opening an account.
Albert. A great free app I use to track my finances and save more money. You can also earn a $150 signup bonus if you open a free Albert cash account.