A Chicago man who was hit over $6,300 in fraudulent rideshare charges got his money back thanks to NBC 5 Responds while talking about how the issue snuck up on him.
Victor Sowder told NBC 5 Responds the charges were easy to miss at first, until a $200 charge showed up on his debit card, triggering a notification sent to his phone.
“I got an update on my phone that there was a $200 charge for a lift. So I went to my phone, looked at my bank account, and noticed there were multiple charges on my account,” Sowder said.
In all, he had a total of 133 charges from Lyft totaling $6,320.29. Sowder said he didn’t authorize any of the charges, so he filed a fraud claim with his bank.
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The bank closed the investigation without helping Sowder recover the money charged to his debit card.
Sowder told NBC 5 Responds he contacted Lyft directly after not receiving the money back from his bank.
According to Sowder, Lyft said he opened another account under his own name.
NBC 5 Responds
“Somehow through Lyft, they started another account with my with my card,” Sowder said.
He insisted he did not open the secondary Lyft account himself, and said he didn’t give anyone else permission to do so.
Sowder believes someone got access to his debit card information.
When Sowder didn’t know where else to turn for help, he contacted NBC 5 Responds.
We contacted Lyft about the charges Sowder said he didn’t make. Then, Lyft sent Sowder a message saying in part: “We can conclude that these charges were performed by a fraudster, and you are not responsible for these amounts.”
This was joyous news to Sowder, though the story didn’t end there.
Lyft followed up with Sowder, asking him to fill out a W-9 form. “Why would I fill out a W-9 form? I'm not an employee or a contractor,” Sowder said.
NBC 5 Responds followed up with Lyft again, asking why it was asking Sowder to pay taxes for a refund of charges that Lyft itself said were made fraudulently.
Lyft did not address that question, telling us it was reaching out to Sowder directly. He then received a non-disclosure agreement from Lyft, offering a full refund of $6,320.29. Sowder told NBC 5 Responds he accepted the terms.
Key Takeaways
Avoid rideshare fraud on your debit card by linking a credit card to your rideshare account. Once the money comes out of your bank account, it can be hard to get it back. You may have an easier time disputing credit card charges.
According to the Fair Credit Billing Act:
- If you notice a fraud charge on a credit card statement, you have 60 days to dispute the charge.
- The credit card issuer must launch an investigation within 30 days of receiving the complaint.
- The credit card company has another 90 days to resolve the dispute or provide a written explanation of why the charges stand.
- You are not responsible for paying the disputed charges while the investigation is pending.
