29th July 2023 – (Hong Kong) According to HK01, a woman fell prey to crafty scammers last Thursday (27th) after ordering a food delivery through the foodpanda app. Little did she know the receipt containing her personal details would be used by scammers posing as police officers in an attempt to extort money.
Ms Lam placed an order with a restaurant in Cheung Sha Wan and opted for pickup. She paid online using Alipay HK. On her way to collect her food, she received a suspicious call from a male speaking fluent Cantonese asking for her by name. He claimed there was suspicious activity on her Alipay account and said he would call back later before abruptly hanging up. When Ms Lam arrived at the restaurant, she discovered her food had already been taken by another man. As staff helped her investigate, the scammer called again, this time posing as “Officer Wong” from the Cheung Sha Wan Police Station. He insisted her Alipay account had been compromised and pressured her to take action immediately.
Ms Lam grew suspicious and challenged the scammer, asking what her Alipay account had to do with the police. He scolded her and arrogantly said she could come to the station to file a report if she doubted him.
She then received a WhatsApp voice message from a different mobile number, allegedly from a CID officer at Wanchai Police Station. The scammer sent her an Alipay QR code for a transfer of HK$2,500, demanding she pay the “bail money” or risk unnecessary trouble. The WhatsApp account used a police foot drill image as the profile picture and was renamed “Hong Kong Police”.
Although flustered by the situation, Ms Lam thankfully did not fall for the ruse. The restaurant staff sympathised and remade her order free of charge. She reported the incident on the 18222 anti-scam hotline but no arrests have been made.
Bombardment of Threatening Messages After Refusing to Pay
After returning home, Ms Lam continued receiving threatening messages from the scammers, including three calls from hidden numbers. In one aggressive call, the scammer cursed at her and arrogantly said she didn’t know who they were or have their ID number to find them.
Most alarmingly, she received another WhatsApp message at 9pm related to her food order details. The scammer appeared to know her exact order and even asked if she could order extra cold drinks next time. Ms Lam realised the man who took her food must have contacted her using the receipt information.
Ms Lam rarely uses food delivery apps, averaging only twice a month. She never imagined ordering food could lead to such a bizarre situation. After examining her receipt, she was shocked to see it displayed her full name, mobile number, payment details, and complete food order. She lamented, “If someone wants to find a target for scams, they can easily get people’s information this way.”
As the experience was highly irregular, Ms Lam initially thought it was just a normal scam attempt unrelated to food delivery. But after learning her personal details had leaked, she decided to report it to police because of uncertainty over what could happen next.
The restaurant staff helped check CCTV footage and identified the food thief as a 30-40 year old man with short hair, wearing dark sportswear and sneakers. Police also visited the restaurant to investigate but there have been no arrests so far. Ms Lam also contacted Foodpanda who said they would log the incident.
Other Victims Reveal Cases Within Cases
When Ms Lam posted about her experience on Facebook to warn others, commenters noticed the scammer’s mobile number was the same one used in other recent online ticket scams.
Another victim, Ms Chan, privately messaged Ms Lam saying she also received threatening messages on Thursday demanding “bail money” from the same scammer impersonating a police officer. However, Ms Chan had not ordered food – she was targeted after falling for a separate theme park ticket scam. This suggested multiple victims of the same scammer.
Ms Chan revealed she paid around HK$1,000 last week to the scammer for theme park tickets advertised in a Facebook group. After realising she was duped, she didn’t report it to police as the amount lost was small. But on Thursday night, the scammer suddenly messaged demanding she transfer bail money while posing as a policeman. After seeing Ms Lam’s post, she realised other victims had been targeted by what appeared to be a habitual scammer.
Foodpanda Investigating Incidents
In response to the theft and scam, Foodpanda told local media HK01: “We are currently investigating the related cases. Regarding the scam situations, Foodpanda has always taken various measures and regularly reviews existing processes to avoid similar situations. We will complete the investigation as soon as possible and follow up with related users.”
Some food delivery customers feel moderately concerned about the risks of personal data misuse. Mr Lee uses both Foodpanda and Deliveroo frequently for takeaway orders but was unaware Foodpanda receipts displayed mobile numbers. He isn’t too worried about people misusing the information for nefarious purposes, saying: “It’s possible but I wouldn’t be particularly concerned because nowadays there are many ways for people to get your number online.”
Mr Lee believes food delivery platforms have a responsibility to protect customer privacy. He suggested: “Foodpanda could do better in protecting information, like masking the last few digits of the number, or using virtual numbers to call for confirmation like Meituan does in China, so you don’t have to give out your real personal details.”
Another customer, Mr Chui, says restaurants are often understaffed and rarely cross-check details with customers collecting takeaway orders, sometimes being too busy to manage. He thinks displaying phone numbers helps restaurants and delivery riders verify identities and believes such scams are “unpreventable”, saying: “Nowadays there are so many scams every year, a few every day, usually saying you need to send money for a missed parcel or lottery prize.”
Mr Cheng always confirms his order details directly with restaurants when collecting food, worried about mistakes with orders. He hasn’t heard of the type of scam Ms Lam experienced and worries his personal data could also be stolen. He suggests restaurants should strengthen precautions to protect customer information.
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