A food delivery rider took to Twitter on April 12 to warn others about doing deliveries to a Yishun HDB residential unit that has been on the receiving end of pranks.
According to his tweet, the rider was the 12th delivery personnel who got pranked into sending food to the unit whose owner had not ordered anything.
The first tweet by the rider provided a screen shot of the exact address of the Yishun recipient.
He wrote as the tweet's caption: "If you receive an order for this address, please decline as somebody out there is using her address to prank food riders."
The order amounted to S$34.59 worth of food.
It was a cash on delivery order, which meant that the delivery personnel had to collect money on the spot upon delivery to the recipient.
The instruction given to the rider is to "knock when you reach door bell spoil".
The second tweet showed a sign on the gate of the unit.
The note by the unit's owner read: "This house is a victim of prank food order. Please cancel all food order."
Harassment tactic
Such orders are deliberately used to inconvenience and embarrass the recipient.
It is one of the known tactics employed by harassers by engaging innocent third party operators.
Previous cases involved loan sharks harassing debtors by getting numerous food delivery riders to show up at one time to not only draw attention to the unit, but also to cause a public spectacle.
In such cases, the merchants are made to prepare food that can go to waste, and delivery personnel are not given full compensation for making the trip.
Police response
Responding to Mothership's queries previously, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they take a serious view of such incidents.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that a residential unit had received multiple food delivery orders allegedly made by unlicensed moneylenders," the police said regarding an incident that occurred at Bedok Reservoir.
"The police have zero tolerance for loanshark harassment activities," added the spokesperson.
"Those who deliberately cause annoyance and disruption to the public sense of safety, peace and security will be arrested and dealt with severely in accordance with the law."