A Windsor, Ontario business owner says he lost roughly $27,000 after fraudsters allegedly altered banking details on his Uber Eats account and redirected payouts from two restaurant locations. The case is now under police investigation and has raised broader concerns about account takeover scams affecting small businesses that rely on online delivery platforms.

A Windsor restaurant owner says he was defrauded of approximately $27,000 after scammers allegedly gained access to his Uber Eats account, changed the banking information attached to it, and redirected payments that should have gone to his business.

Kosta Apatsidis, who operates multiple Gyros and More locations in Windsor-Essex, says the losses affected two of his restaurants over an extended period. According to the report, about $20,000 went missing from one location over the course of a year, while another location lost roughly $7,000 over the previous six months. He says he had never experienced anything like this in his 17 years of business.

The alleged fraud appears to have gone beyond a simple payment issue. Apatsidis says someone changed the bank account number linked to the Uber Eats tablet used to manage orders and also deleted the order history, making it harder to track what had happened. At first, he believed there was merely a delay in receiving payouts, but as time passed, the missing money became impossible to ignore.

Police are now investigating the complaint, and Apatsidis says officers were able to recover some of the lost account details. That reportedly revealed that a different bank account had been added to the Uber Eats account, suggesting a deliberate account takeover rather than a clerical or technical error.

The case highlights a growing risk for small businesses that depend on third-party digital platforms for customer orders and revenue. In many account takeover cases, fraudsters do not need to steal money directly from a cash register or bank account. Instead, they gain access to a platform account, alter payment settings, and quietly divert funds over time while the business owner assumes there is a routine delay or administrative problem.

After media attention, Uber reportedly confirmed that fraudulent activity had occurred on the account and said it was working toward a resolution. Still, the incident has left the business owner questioning whether he can continue trusting the platform. For restaurants already dealing with tight margins and heavy reliance on online ordering, that kind of breach can create both financial damage and serious operational strain.

The report also points to a larger issue affecting restaurants beyond Windsor. Similar complaints have surfaced in other Canadian cities, suggesting that account compromise on food delivery platforms may be part of a broader fraud pattern rather than an isolated incident. For independent operators and franchise owners alike, the case is a reminder that digital convenience can also create new vulnerabilities if account controls are weak or unusual changes go unnoticed.

Cybersecurity experts quoted in the report say these scams often involve social engineering, reused passwords, or unauthorized access to merchant accounts. That means businesses may need to review payout information regularly, use stronger account security practices, and verify any unusual messages or account changes directly through official support channels.

For restaurant owners, the lesson is increasingly clear: platform accounts should be treated like financial infrastructure. If fraudsters can gain control of payout settings, the losses can accumulate quietly in the background until the damage is already substantial.

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Originally published on Canadian Fraud News.