Are you one of the many people who received a 1099 tax form from DoorDash, even though you have never worked for the company? Or, maybe you did not work for DoorDash at all during the previous tax year, yet you still received a 1099-NEC indicating that you earned money as a delivery driver.
Unfortunately, there has been a wave of people in the past few years whose identities were stolen and used by scammers to set up DoorDash deriver accounts. This allows the person to make food deliveries and cash in on the fees while you get stuck with the tax consequences.
Victims are faced with even more headaches when they contact DoorDash and try to straighten out the issue. The company has known about these fraudulent accounts since 2018, but they are less than helpful when it comes to addressing the issues, according to countless online posts on Reddit and other forums.
If you have found yourself in this situation, contact our law firm immediately. During a free consultation, we can advise you of your rights and available legal options, like filing a data breach lawsuit against DoorDash.
Fraudulent DoorDash Driver Account Scams: Why are They Harmful?
First and foremost, the fact that a random stranger is in possession of your personal information is highly concerning on its own. When the information is used to set up a Dasher account, you have the additional problem of being hit with tax consequences. Essentially, someone has earned money through DoorDash, but the tax bill for those earnings is passed on to you. Some people are devastated to find out that they owe thousands of dollars in taxes, when they never saw a penny of the income that was accrued under their name.
A huge tax bill can cause all sorts of damage, like lowering your credit score, garnishment of your wages, and wiping out your savings. The stolen information can also be used for the purpose of filing a fraudulent tax return, meaning someone else has robbed you of your tax refund.
What to Do if You are a Victim of DoorDash Identity Theft
As soon as you find out that you are a victim of tax fraud, go to the IRS website and complete Form 14039. The Identity Theft Victim Assistance will review your claim and advise you of any further actions you need to take. It is frustrating, however, to know that fraudulent activity by someone else will take months, maybe even years, to resolve, considering IRS turnaround times on even relatively simple matters.
Another step you can take is contacting a DoorDash stolen identity tax fraud lawyer. Based on the details of how your information was obtained, you may be entitled to monetary damages from a data breach lawsuit against DoorDash.
What We Know about DoorDash Personal Information Scams
DoorDash announced in 2022 that there was a phishing campaign on one of their third party vendors. This resulted in unauthorized access to customer data, like phone numbers, delivery addresses and email accounts for customers. Hackers also gained access to names, phone numbers, and email addresses of DoorDash drivers.
The company experienced a previous hack in 2019, which compromised personal information for an estimated 4.9 million users, including drivers with accounts dating back to April 4, 2018. This was the start of fraudulent Dasher accounts created by unauthorized individuals.
DoorDash insists that they have taken “additional steps to further secure your data,” but it’s obvious that customer and driver data hacks are an on-going problem for the food delivery app. This is why it’s important to determine DoorDash’s role in these situations, including security failures that allowed for identity theft on a massive scale.
DoorDash Data Breach – Identity Theft Class Action Lawsuit
If you are a victim of identity theft due to a data breach of your personal information with DoorDash, you may be interested in joining a class action lawsuit. This type of lawsuits can be filed against DoorDash, their third party vendors, and other entities that failed to protect your information.
The number of people whose lives were turned upside down from unexpected tax bills is growing, and we can assure you that you are not alone. Many individuals facing this problem have contacted us, and a class action lawsuit is likely to be the best option when there are millions of people that may have been affected by a data security attack. To learn more about joining a DoorDash identity theft class action lawsuit, reach out to us at your earliest opportunity.
How Long Do I have to File a Claim?
As someone whose identity was stolen in order to set up a fake DoorDash driver account, you have 3 years to file a claim for monetary damages. Alternatively, if the perpetrator is convicted of identity fraud, which is a felony, you have 4 years to file a lawsuit.
As a general rule, the 3 or 4 year window of time to sue the liable entities begins on the date of realizing that you are a victims of financial or identity fraud. For example, many people only become aware of what has happened to them once they receive a tax form. So, it may be that the scam was committed over a year ago, but the statute of limitations would start from when you received a 1099 from DoorDash.
There’s no need to worry if you are confused about the amount of time you have to file a DoorDash tax fraud lawsuit. Our lawyers can help you figure this out and provide answers to all your other questions during a free case review.
We are Here to Help
Stolen identity victims are forced to deal with the consequences of someone else’s actions, and unfortunately, it can take years to undo the damage to your finances and other aspects of your life. This is due to the fact that once your information is used to set up false accounts, the same set of information can be sold and resold to other criminals.
Companies that fail in their due diligence to protect personal information must be held accountable, and filing a lawsuit in one of the best ways to accomplish that goal. Please contact us immediately so that we can provide you with a free consultation, along with the Zero Fee Guarantee. This is a policy where the cost of legal fees is charged to the defendant and only paid to us as a part of your settlement. So, that means you pay $0 out of pocket, and if fail to bring you payment, you owe us absolutely nothing
To discuss your rights and legal options with one of our legal experts, please take a moment to contact out law firm.
