Uber Eats has warned of a new scam. Here's what to watch out for

The scam, which invites customers to join a promotional team, is circulating via WhatsApp, according to Uber Eats.

A woman looking at a smartphone that is loading the Uber Eats app.

Uber Eats warned customers of the scam in an email on Thursday. Source: Getty, LightRocket / SOPA Images/Stanislav Kogiku

Uber Eats customers have been warned of a new scam circulating on WhatsApp.

In an email to customers on Thursday, Uber Eats wrote that scammers purporting to work for the food delivery platform had contacted customers via the messaging app.

The scammers invite message recipients to join a "promotional team" and offer "rewards for liking or bookmarking merchant stores".

"If you receive these messages, we strongly advise you not to engage with it, share personal or financial information, or click on any links," Uber Eats wrote. "Remember, we will never ask you to provide your password."
Uber Eats said customers with questions or concerns should contact it through its app or website.

Australians have filed about 143,000 scam reports and lost nearly $140 million to scams in the year to June, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch service. That's down 51 per cent and 8 per cent respectively compared to the same period in 2023.

The most popular contact method among scammers in the year to June has been via text message, with more than 57,553 reports to Scamwatch. That was followed by email (43,119 reports) and phone calls (22,621 reports).
Over the same period, Australians have lost the most to ($82.6 million), followed by ($11.2 million) and phishing scams ($9.7 million).

People who fear they've been scammed should contact their bank or card provider immediately to report the scam and ask them to block payments, according to Scamwatch, which also recommends making a report to its service.

They should also be wary of follow-up scams, especially of someone making contact out of the blue offering to help them get their money back, Scamwatch says.

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Published 18 July 2024 2:56pm
By David Aidone
Source: SBS News



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