MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Uber confirmed it will pay back $1,300 to a Maryville Uber driver scammed out of the same amount.
"As a one-time courtesy, we were able to reapply the earnings that were stolen," Uber said.
George Crnkovich has driven for Uber on and off for around six years. He drove for hours every day during the first week of September. He said he understands scams start with asking for personal information. He said he didn't give any information away, but it didn't matter.
"He knew my name. He knew my accounts. How long I've been driving, my rating. Everything," Crnkovich said.
He said he was given a card number to use to get the bonus. Then he waited to get his payment as usual early the following week.
"The money didn't get paid on Tuesday. It showed cashed out Sunday night," he said.
Then he started looking to see if others had been scammed the same way. He found two Uber drivers in Nashville, who had also been scammed, one losing almost $600. Crnkovich has been in contact with Uber since realizing the scam. He said he's still working to get his money back.
"It's going to leave me pretty low because this is all I do. It's kind of hard and they don't pay as well as they used to," Crnkovich said.
In messages between Uber Support and Crnkovich, Uber said there was no evidence his account had been compromised. Crnkovich said he wants the company to be more forthcoming.
"I think that their security department needs to be looked at. Uber should be sending out a monthly notice, 'Hey, there's scams going on,'" he said.
He filed a police report and said he was told it would be almost impossible for them to find anything tracing back to the scammer.
“We are disgusted by these scammers preying on hard-working Uber drivers. We routinely remind riders and drivers to never share personal account information, such as passwords or verification codes, with anyone and we will never ask you for this information,” a spokesperson from Uber said.