This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. Subscribe to them here.
Two men stole over $1 million in wages from DoorDash delivery workers by impersonating them to customer service representatives and hijacking their accounts, according to a recent indictment.
The indictment, filed in the Northern District Court of California in mid-September, claims that Oluwatobi Otukelu and Evan Edwards, both residents of Houston, Texas, stole money from at least 138 individual Dashers across at least six states over the last two years.
“As part of this scheme, the co-conspirators obtained the personal identifying information of Dasher victims; falsely impersonated the Dasher victims to DoorDash support; took over
Dashers’ existing online accounts; created new, unauthorized accounts using Dashers’ personal information; directed payments of Dasher wages from DoorDash to accounts controlled by Otukelu and Edwards for the purpose of stealing money; and used Dashers’ wages to pay for goods and services,” the indictment states.
In a statement to 404 Media, DoorDash confirmed the thefts and said that it originally referred the case to the FBI. It also said it has reimbursed or tried to reimburse workers who were stolen from.
“We welcome the news that the Department of Justice has brought charges against two individuals for their role in a fraud that targeted both individual Dashers and DoorDash,” a DoorDash spokesperson said. “At DoorDash, we have absolutely zero tolerance for fraud of any kind, and that’s why we proactively referred the matter to law enforcement to protect Dashers and hold these bad actors accountable for their egregious actions. What these people did was not just morally wrong but criminal. They deliberately targeted hardworking Dashers for their personal gain.”
According to the indictment, Otukelu and Edwards would call DoorDash customer service representatives and pretend that they were Dashers who had somehow lost access to their accounts. They would demand that the customer service rep change the login information on the account. Once logged in, they would change the account password to lock out the actual Dasher, and send the money stored in the DoorDash account to their own bank accounts.
When faced with these requests, DoorDash customer service reps would ask for some form of verification. The indictment states that the men would use the personal information of the Dasher, such as their phone number, date of birth, recent transactions, or even the last four digits of their driver’s license, to authenticate themselves.
The indictment says that the men got this information “through various methods, including from other co-conspirators,” but does not specify the methods themselves. It also alleges that they had recruited customer service reps into the scheme.
“As a further part of the scheme to defraud, the co-conspirators recruited and attempted to recruit DoorDash customer service personnel to join this scheme to help obtain Dashers’ PII and to make changes to Dasher accounts,” the indictment states.
Sometimes, the indictment states, DoorDash would ask the men for selfies to prove their identity as the Dasher before changing the account information. In response, they would send pictures of themselves.
“Co-conspirators tried to circumvent DoorDash heightened security practices by electronically transmitting their own photographs in response to verification requests,” the indictment states. Most recently, it says, Oluteku tried to change a Dasher’s banking information in June and “transmitt[ed] photographs of himself in response to a request for ‘selfie’ verification.”
The indictment also gives examples of what they did with the money. In July of 2023, an unnamed co-conspirator stole $759.88 from a Dasher’s account, and used about half of that money to pay for Edwards’ loan on a Mercedes C300 convertible.
The DoorDash spokesperson also said that it fired customer service reps it had found to be taking part in it.
“We have closely cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice on their investigation, and we are grateful for their efforts and work. We have fully supported all the Dashers impacted by this fraud, including reimbursing them any earnings taken,” the spokesperson said. “No merchants or customers were involved or negatively impacted in any way. We strongly hope that justice is ultimately served and that this sends a warning to any other bad actors. Make no mistake—we will continue to relentlessly pursue anyone who attempts to target our community, including supporting criminal charges."
Gig work, like food delivery, is precarious to begin with, because there is usually no consistent minimum wage. DoorDash pays drivers a flat rate of about $2 or $3 per delivery, so Dashers rely almost exclusively on tips to make any profit. However, DoorDash said last year it would give full-time drivers the option to be paid a time-based wage.
Oluteku and Edwards were arrested on September 26.
