A viral Reddit Post Alleging Fraud From a Food Delivery App Turned Out to be AI-Generated
An AI-generated Reddit post about food delivery app fraud went viral—until journalists uncovered the hoax.
Matilda
A viral Reddit Post Alleging Fraud From a Food Delivery App Turned Out to be AI-Generated
AI Hoax Exposed: Viral “Whistleblower” Post Was Entirely Fabricated A viral Reddit post claiming a food delivery app was exploiting drivers with secret algorithms has been revealed as an elaborate AI-generated hoax. The post, which surged to over 87,000 upvotes and millions of impressions across social platforms, described a fictional “desperation score” system allegedly used to manipulate gig workers. But investigative journalist Casey Newton of Platformer uncovered that none of it was real—no whistleblower, no internal documents, just synthetic text designed to mimic truth. Credit: Google For users already skeptical of gig economy practices, the post felt chillingly plausible. After all, major platforms like DoorDash have faced lawsuits over tip theft, settling for $16.75 million in one notable case. That real-world precedent lent credibility to the Redditor’s claims, which included dramatic details like typing the post “drunk at the library” on public Wi-Fi. But believability doesn’t …
