You might have heard of the term catphishing, when a person poses as someone else on the internet to gain information. Well, it's happened to a local Uber driver. And when he couldn't get answers from Uber he called FOX 47 and talked with our Alani Letang.
Driving for Uber can be risky, and having someone hack your account can be a nightmare. It's a scary feeling to know someone is picking up riders under your authorized account. It happened to a Mid-Michigan Uber driver, Joseph O'Connor.
"I was getting notified very briefly that money is being transferred to me, I had at least three notices," said Joseph O'Connor, Uber driver who's account has been hacked.
Three notices totaling more than $1,000 going into two unknown separate bank accounts.
"That was my first clue that something was askew with my account," said Joseph.
Joseph O'Connor was having Easter dinner with friends when he received the notices of earned money for trips, that he never took that day.
When he logged into his account he saw that his email, phone number, and place of residence was changed.
"And a rider unknowingly gets into a vehicle for an unauthorized driver, lord only knows what could happen in that instance."
Joseph's clientele is mostly college students that average about $10-$12 dollars a trip. He didn't take a look at exactly where the trips were going but he knew it couldn't be real trips.
"How could they do four trips in six hours bringing in that amount of money?" wondered Joseph.
Immediately concerned about a rider's safety if he or she took a trip thinking it was Joseph, he struggled to get a hold of Uber.
"I tried all night Sunday night. It took me forever to find a number, to begin with," said Joseph.
That number, Joseph said, is a recording which then sends you to "help.uber.com" directing you to a serious of questions that Joseph said was no help to him. He tried reaching out to Uber through their social media accounts.
"I have had absolutely no response from anyone from Uber. There's no live person, there's no live chat that I could locate. I've spent exorbitant amounts of time and in my frustration, is why I contacted local news," said Joseph.
Letang was able to find an email for Uber, and within a few hours, someone from their security team contacted Letang back.
They exchanged emails back and forth, telling her that she would look into Joseph's situation. Letang last spoke to that Uber representative on Monday, who said they are still working on Joseph's account to figure out if rides were indeed taken and where the money that was deposited into unknown accounts came from.
Joseph has deleted the Uber app but is unable to get into his account without providing a social security number. He said Uber already has the number from when he signed up to be a driver.
"If you have hacked my account, how many riders account have been hacked?" questioned Joseph.
There are a couple things you should always do before getting into your Uber. Check the car's make, model and license plate to make sure it matches the driver profile and look at the driver's picture in the app to verify they are the right driver.
This is a working story, check back for updates.
If you have a story you want us to look into, contact us at newstips@fox47news.com. Or send us a message on Facebook.
