Viral DoorDash app fraud found to be AI-generated hoax

The Reddit community is abuzz with an alleged fraud disclosed by a Redditor. The fraud alarm has been found to be an AI-generated hoax in the form of a fabricated post alleging that the company was exploiting its drivers and customers.

The viral food delivery app fraud on Reddit

In his post, the person, supposedly a whistleblower, claimed, “You guys always suspect the algorithms are rigged against you, but the reality is actually so much more depressing than the conspiracy theories.” He described being drunk and using public Wi-Fi at a library to bring to light accusations about the company, which he alleged exploits legal loopholes to misappropriate drivers’ tips and wages.

While these allegations appeared believable—especially given DoorDash's previous lawsuit for stealing tips, which resulted in a $16.75 million settlement—the whistleblower's account was found to be fake.

While such deception is common on the internet, it is rare for a post to achieve over 87,000 upvotes on Reddit and be shared immensely widely on other social media platforms like X, where it received an additional 208,000 likes and 36.8 million impressions.

Journalist Casey Newton attempted to verify the Redditor's claims. The user provided what appeared to be a photo of his UberEats employee badge and an 18-page “internal document” detailing the company's use of AI to assess drivers' “desperation scores.” However, Newton realised he was being lured into an AI-generated hoax.

The delayed debunk comes as the rise of generative AI has complicated fact-checking, as these models often struggle to identify synthetic images or videos.

In this case, Newton used Google’s Gemini to determine that the image was AI-generated. The development underscores the challenges of distinguishing real from fake content in today’s digital landscape.