Roadie
Some gig workers don’t play by delivery companies’ rules, using accounts under names other than their own to get more work.
That’s a big problem that Dennis Moon, COO at delivery service Roadie, is trying to solve.
Like Uber, DoorDash, Walmart’s Spark, and other delivery apps, Roadie relies on independent contractors to pick up customer orders and drop them off at their doorstep.
Like those other apps, Roadie has also seen issues with driver fraud and getting deliveries to customers on time.
Roadie and other apps verify contractors’ identities when they sign up. However, some workers then hand over their accounts to other people who want to game the system to make money.
For instance, Business Insider previously reported that users have posted ads on some social media pages for driver accounts on Walmart’s Spark delivery service and similar providers.
The results can include delivery workers juggling multiple phones, each with a different account open, and delivering orders under a name other than their own. Using someone else’s credentials can help bypass the weeks or months it can take gig workers to get approved on a delivery app, or allow workers to pick up additional orders, for example.
Moon said fraudulent drivers represent “a huge risk” for Roadie.
Traditional delivery services like UPS — which owns Roadie — rely on a network of sorting centers and drivers who are usually nameless to customers.
Delivery services like Roadie, meanwhile, are more personal. “It is different in our world because you know the name of the driver, you have a picture of the driver,” Moon said. “This is the person who has your package, who picked up your package, and it gets a lot of the spotlight.”
Roadie is using biometric facial recognition and geofencing to fight driver fraud
Roadie is using biometric facial recognition to help combat the issue. The app prompts contractors to take photos of their faces. The company’s technology then compares the photos with those it has on file to ensure that the person using the app and the person registered to use the app are the same.
Face scans are now “part of the process in almost every delivery,” Moon said.
Roadie also uses AI to flag specific times where a face ID check might be necessary, such as when a driver takes a delivery after changing their phone number or when the delivery is high-value. “It could depend on what you’re delivering,” he said.
Roadie is also working on using more precise GPS locations in its app — something that could guard against drivers trying to steal deliveries as well as innocent mistakes.
GPS chips in smartphones are typically accurate within about 15 feet. But stand-alone GPS devices have long been accurate down to one foot, Moon said.
As smartphone GPS systems become more accurate, Roadie wants to use them to confirm that deliveries have made it to their final destination. Currently, many Roadie deliveries require delivery workers to take a photo of the delivery in place through the app.
But Roadie wants to develop a GPS feature that could prevent delivery workers from completing that final step until they’re actually in the right spot.
“The app will tell them, ‘You can’t take a picture, it is not in the geofence zone of where that package should be,'” he said.
Roadie isn’t the only company trying to deter delivery workers from sharing accounts. Walmart uses a facial recognition tool and has asked some drivers to verify their identities in person at Walmart stores. Uber in January gave an updated overview of the processes and technology it uses to prevent ongoing fraud, including real-time ID checks. And DoorDash in December said it would require drivers to verify their identities more often as part of a larger effort to curb account sharing.
Moon said detecting fraud on its app is also complicated because it can look similar to innocent mistakes.
“If a driver didn’t take a photo at drop-off, it might be because cell signal is bad in that area, or it might be because there was some sort of an issue with their device,” he said.
Moon said he encourages Roadie’s Trust and Safety employees to investigate before deactivating a contractor’s account.
Gig workers for other delivery services have had their accounts deactivated with little warning or explanation from the apps, BI previously reported.
“I tell the team all the time, we’ve got to communicate,” he said. “You don’t just deactivate a driver.”
Do you have a story to share about gig work? Contact this reporter at [email protected] or 808-854-4501.
The post Gig worker identity fraud is a ‘huge risk’ for delivery apps. Here’s how one company is trying to combat it. appeared first on Business Insider.
