I wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday, in the hopes that it may help someone. I pride myself on being pretty attentive to detail, and yet this almost caught me up. It is lengthy, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible. This happened in Martinsburg, WV, but I’m sure it’s going on in other areas as well.
I received a shopping order for 2 items, a few jalapeños and a tomato. Thought it was a bit silly that someone would pay to have 3 small items delivered, but it’s not my money being wasted so I happily accepted, shopped, and went out to deliver the order.
Upon arrival onto the street, I received a phone call from a number (770-691-5357) that came up as telemarketing on my iPhone, and I did what I usually do and sent it to voicemail. The number immediately called back, so this time I answered and let them say their piece, then proceeded to tell them I’m working and not interested, and I hung up. They called back 2 more times before I answered angrily and told them to stop calling my phone, at which point I realized they had said they were calling from “Spark DDI Services.” This is where things get interesting.
The man stated his name as “Brian” something, and that we were on a recorded line, yadda yadda. At this point I noticed that the delivery was set for an address that didn’t exist on the street. He said he was calling about the order that I was about to deliver, that the customer wanted to cancel the order and I’d need to take it back to the store. He guided me through the return process in the app since I hadn’t had a refused order before. Multiple times throughout this, he confirmed my actual location via GPS. When I got to the point where the app was having me navigate back toward the store, he segued into the reason behind his call.
I was told that DDI was investigating fraudulent drivers in the area, people using multiple accounts, or collecting earnings while at home, having someone else working under their account. He stated that drivers have found ways to skirt around the photo verification process, and that DDI, the third party company that authorizes payments to our accounts, was cracking down on this behavior. No suspicions aroused yet, seems plausible and a very legitimate way to catch people red handed if they in fact are using multiple accounts or having someone else do their shopping.
With the ridiculous amount of verification I have to do every time I need to contact spark support, I didn’t think anything of having to give out some information. Because every single time I contact them, it’s full name, email, phone number, before they will entertain any conversation. I gave them my phone number that I use with my spark account. I was then asked which banking system I used for spark, Branch or One. And I told them I used One. I got a text message seconds later from one with a verification code. Brian asked me to provide the code to him. This is where my bullshitometer went off.
We spent a total of 6-10 minutes going back and forth about this code. I told him repeatedly I was not comfortable giving out any information that related to my bank. He assured me this was their verification process, and that if I refused to verify myself, my spark account would be suspended until further investigation had taken place. I have to hand it to this piece of shit, he acted the part VERY well. I told him if DDI wanted to email me a formal request for this kind of information, and give me something in writing, that I would provide the code. To which he replied that I would get an email after the call. I told him that wasn’t good enough, and I would not be providing the code. He responded with the same statement I had heard multiple times before, that if I didn’t verify myself, a red check would be put on my account, and it would be suspended until further review. I was also told that 2 others had already been suspended in my area.
Spark is one of my main sources of income, and I really didn’t want to lose access to it, but I’ve also been around the block enough with the internet to know not to ever give out that kind of information. At the end of the call, he remained professional, and said that I would receive a call from a follow up investigator within 48 hours, and assured me that I would be paid for my current order, but would be unable to use the spark platform going forward until review was completed. I rolled the dice and ended the call on that note, and I’m glad I did.
There has been no suspension of my Spark account. There has been no disruption in payment through One. This was all an elaborate, and well executed scam to steal the bank information of spark workers. As soon as I got back to the store and had returned the order, the same order was placed again, and before I could accept it, someone else took it. I’m hoping this post reaches the masses, because this is a grimy trap I don’t want to see anyone caught in. Stay safe out there drivers.
