Uber, Lyft Spoofed For Phishing

The inevitable threat to new tech hits lift-sharing services.

The internet has given birth to a whole new way for hardworking individuals to earn a serious income. In today’s gig-economy, employers and workers all over the world can connect for both one-and-done opportunities and years’-long working relationships.

Unfortunately, this new wave of hiring practice has also given rise to another issue: phishing for identities based on tech-related work.

Uber, Lyft, and other gig-work platforms have become common phishing tools for scammers

In addition to the rampant attempts at stealing identities and account access from both contract workers and their clients, phishing email attacks have flourished under the guise of seeking new Uber and Lyft drivers.

A simple mouse-hover over the sender’s name will show the actual email address behind it, but the subject lines invariably say something like, “Complete your Uber profile to get started today,” or “There’s a problem with your Lyft account.”

Much like phishing attempts that spoofed sites like PayPal and Amazon–simply because it was a safe bet that the majority of email users had one or both of those accounts–targeting potential victims via ride-hailing platforms is a safe bet due to the sheer volume of people who use those apps as either drivers or riders.

…and it gets worse

Sadly, there’s another danger from the popularity of this kind of work, and that’s the potential for long-term identity theft.

In order to apply for these and other work options, applicants must provide their entire cache of highly-sensitive personally identifiable information. One wrong click, and you submit your name, birth date, Social Security number, and answers to your security questions on a scammer’s fake website thanks to a spoofed email offering you the link. Never mind that you link your bank account or PayPal to many of these apps as well.

As new tech innovations continue to improve lives for everyday consumers, they also lead to the unfortunate consequence of making life both easier and more lucrative for scammers. It’s up to consumers (and ideally, the platforms that scammers deploy) to avoid becoming a victim.