Z-Burger owner warns other businesses after he says scammer posed as DoorDash worker
Z-Burger founder Peter Tabibian, whose chain includes 12 locations in D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia area, says the McLean, Virginia, restaurant was bilked Wednesday evening.
“They said they’re from DoorDash, and said your tablet is broken, and you’re missing a lot of orders,” Tabibian told WTOP. The scammer said they wanted to provide a new tablet, which would connect with the DoorDash delivery service.
Tabibian said the caller was able to provide the McLean employee with specific information that only DoorDash would know, including the last three orders that the customers ordered down to the topping they’d ordered.
“He knew the last four digits of our account number, and said ‘For us to program this tablet properly, we need to verify your bank account number and routing number,” Tabibian said.
That misstep provided the scammers with the information they needed. “The next morning, we found there was a fraudulent charge on our bank account” — a $565 transaction.
Tabibian’s company is now monitoring and closing bank accounts. “It’s such a headache to make all these changes,” he said.
Co-owner Kevin Ejtemai said he and Tabibian felt compelled to warn other business owners, “So that they won’t fall into the same trap as we did.”
Ejtemai and Tabibian said employees dropped their guard after scammers provided information that seemingly came from the DoorDash portal.
“Once they have their trust, then the door is open,” said Ejtemai.
Tabibian said he has alerted DoorDash about the situation. WTOP is seeking comment from the company’s corporate communications department.