East Providence Uber driver says he was scammed out of nearly $1K

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — An East Providence Uber driver says he was scammed out of almost $1,000.

Joshua Richards was doing what he does every week, driving for Uber in the morning before heading out to work on his small business where he helps the elderly and disabled take out their trash.

"I work seven days a week because I'm trying to get my trash business off the ground," said Richards.

Richards said he received a call from who he thought was Uber customer support. According to Richards, the caller claimed a customer said he didn't look like his photo in the app, so they called to verify.

The caller got the Uber driver's name, phone number, license number, and current photo.

"He had me take a picture of myself to verify because someone said I didn't look like my picture," said Richards.

• CONSUMER ALERT: How to avoid recreational pot scams online

After the hassle, he believed Uber was offering him an incentive.

"For having to go through all that, he wanted to give me $100," explained Richards.

The scammer asked Richards to delete his debit card information, and instead put in an Uber pay card where he can give him the money.

"They said when they hit the "cash out" button, that's going to process the whole thing," explained Richards. "My whole pay for the week was gone."

• MORE NEWS: Man accused of killing Providence building's landlord

Richards lost nearly $950 in an instant. He filed a police report and contacted NBC 10.

After contacting Uber, Richards got a full refund.

In a statement to NBC 10, Uber said this type of scam is also known as an "imposter scam," writing in part:

"Uber will never ask users for personal account information, such as verification codes or passwords and riders and drivers should never add unknown debit or credit cards to their account. If someone believes they have been scammed, we encourage them to report it to us so we can investigate and take action.”

In a blog post, Uber provided the following tips for protecting your Uber account:

• Use a unique password for every online account. Don’t use your Uber password on any other website or service.
• Don’t share your password or verification code with anyone. Uber will never ask you for this information.
• Only add debit or credit cards you own to your Uber account.
• Scammers are clever. Be cautious of phone calls, text messages, and emails from anyone claiming to be an Uber employee and offering a reward or prize. The FTC tracks these types of “impersonation scams” across many services and you can follow their scam alerts here.
• If you notice any suspicious activity on your account, report it to us immediately in the mobile app or at help.uber.com. We take these reports seriously and work with financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute scammers.