Since April, Instacart has hired roughly half a million new gig workers and reported profitability for the first time since its 2012 founding. The hacks coincide with a period of rapid expansion at the on-demand grocery delivery platform, which has become an essential service for many immunocompromised and elderly Americans avoiding grocery stores during the pandemic. Walking around Costco like Zombies, not knowing where items are and asking Costco employees where to find items.
"They are people who in the great majority cannot work for the company because they do not have the necessary documents and still fuck with those who want to work honestly."Īnother Instacart shopper wrote, "the Bot Shoppers are back here in Santa Clarita Calif. "There is a video circulating on the web of Brazilian hackers taking orders and instacart does nothing," another Instacart shopper posted on Facebook. Literally the most annoying thing ever seeing it in person." "I was just shopping for myself but pulled out my phone to see if I could get a batch. "Literally saw 8 Brazilians (1 or 2 Hispanics and 1 African…it really doesn’t matter the race) at my Costco yesterday shopping big orders," a shopper posted on Facebook in April. Some shoppers on these Instacart Facebook groups have begun calling minority Instacart shoppers “bots” and “zombies.” The hacking incidents, the apparent use of third-party bots to secure orders, and new workers flooding the market because of the pandemic have fueled bizarre theories on Instacart shopper Facebook groups, including that undocumented immigrants are taking their accounts and scooping up bundles of orders, which are in high demand. Their ratings and cancellations rates (which factor into the algorithms that determine who gets orders) suffer when they regain access to their accounts. For those who rely on Instacart to pay for rent and food during the pandemic, getting hacked has meant that they don't have access to money for days. Hacked Instacart shoppers worry that their accounts could be used by other shoppers to earn income using their social security numbers that they will later have to pay taxes on. "But, a dedicated task force is working on investigating this case." Five of these Instacart shoppers say Instacart deactivated their accounts, effectively firing them, after they were hacked for failing to complete orders they say they never accepted.
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"We may not be able to share full details for privacy reasons," an Instacart representative wrote to Roberta in an email reviewed by Motherboard. Roberta and three other hacked shoppers Motherboard spoke to never learned why their accounts were hacked. Since June, at least 12 gig workers on the grocery delivery platform Instacart have had their accounts taken over by hackers who changed personal information-and in some cases, accepted or shopped orders on their accounts, according to the Gig Workers Collective, a grassroots labor non-profit that organizes gig workers across the country. Motherboard allowed Roberta to use her first name only for this story because she feared retaliation from Instacart or being targeted again.
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