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PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Sheriff’s Department is warning the community of a targeted scam affecting local delivery drivers.

In a post to its Facebook page, the sheriff’s department urged Wood County residents to be aware of a structured scam targeting food delivery drivers operating in the Parkersburg area.

On Feb. 28, a local delivery driver accepted what appeared to be a routine order through a popular food delivery platform — a modest payout for a short-distance pickup from a national fast-food restaurant. There was nothing unusual about the order, and it resembled thousands of standard transactions completed daily.

“While en route to the restaurant, the driver received a phone call from an individual claiming to represent the company’s driver support department,” the post said. “The timing coincided precisely with the active order in the app, lending credibility to the call.

“The caller stated that the order had been placed using a fraudulent payment method and needed to be canceled immediately.”

The caller calmly walked the driver through manually canceling the order within the app, offering repeated assurances that full compensation would still be provided and that performance metrics would not be affected, the post said.

After the order was canceled, the caller shifted the conversation to “verification” for compensation purposes. Questions were asked about recent earnings, payout methods, and frequency of cash-outs. These inquiries were framed as standard procedures related to payment processing.

Later that same day, a second call was received from the same operation. Again identifying as company support, the caller claimed there was an issue processing compensation and additional verification was required. The conversation returned to payout methods and debit card details used for expedited payments.

“The driver provided limited identifying information consistent with standard verification practices,” the post said. “The caller then requested the full sixteen-digit debit card number.

“At that point, the fraudulent nature of the call became clear. When the request was refused, the caller abruptly disconnected.”

This incident was not random, the sheriff’s department reported. It was deliberate, structured, and designed to build trust by leveraging real-time order activity within the driver’s app before escalating to requests for financial access.

“No financial loss occurred in this instance due to recognition of the final red flag,” the post said. “However, the sophistication of the approach raises concern that others may not identify the threat in time.”

Residents are encouraged to remember:

* Legitimate support representatives will never request a full debit or credit card number.

* Drivers should not cancel orders at the direction of unsolicited callers.

* All support communication should be initiated directly through the official app.

* Suspicious activity should be reported immediately to local law enforcement and the platform involved.

The purpose of the release was not to create alarm, but to increase awareness and prevent financial harm to Wood County residents, the sheriff’s department reported.

“Community awareness is the most effective defense against organized fraud,” the post said. “We thank the local driver who brought this to our attention.”