S’pore delivery rider, 21, suspects S$50 cash-on-delivery order he picked up is loan shark harassment tactic, films what happened

A foodpanda delivery rider in Singapore was left puzzled after he was unable to contact a customer who had supposedly ordered nearly S$50 worth of food.

He later realised the order may have been part of a loan shark harassment tactic.

Klinsmann Tay, 21, told Mothership that he received a food delivery order to a condominium in the west on Jul. 6.

The customer had chosen the cash-on-delivery option, but was nowhere to be found when Tay arrived.

Suspected loan shark harassment

Tay said a total of three foodpanda riders, including himself, turned up at the same unit.

He did not rule out the possibility that more riders had also been affected.

He also shared a three-part video series of the incident on social media.

In the videos, Tay is heard speaking to the owner of the apartment, who said her tenant appeared to be the customer but was not at home.

She eventually messaged her tenant, who said she had not ordered anything.

Tay did not receive payment for this order.

Third experience

Tay told Mothership this was the third time he had encountered a similar situation.

He said riders are "never compensated" for the time lost when such incidents occur.

"Not even the distance travelled from the restaurant to the delivery location," he said.

Tay eventually contacted foodpanda's rider support team, and the matter was resolved after about 20 minutes.

He said the time spent dealing with the issue could otherwise have been used to complete other deliveries and earn an additional S$10 to S$20.

foodpanda's statement

A foodpanda spokesperson told Mothership that they were aware of the incident and confirmed that “all affected delivery partners have been fully supported”.

"We have ensured that these partners will not incur any financial losses or performance penalties resulting from these orders, as we have a clear policy in place to protect our delivery partners from bearing the costs of fraudulent activities," the spokesperson said.

They added:

"foodpanda takes the misuse of its platform for unlawful activities seriously and has implemented account verification processes, fraud prevention algorithms, and ongoing monitoring of order patterns to detect and mitigate such cases.

We also disseminate advisories from the Singapore Police Force to our delivery partners to remind them to remain vigilant and exercise caution against suspicious activities."

The spokesperson stressed foodpanda has “zero tolerance” for the exploitation of its cash-on-delivery option.

"We will continue strengthening our processes to ensure a safe and pleasant experience for everyone who uses our services," they added.

Police report lodged

In a follow-up video, Tay is heard speaking with a foodpanda staff member, who said the customer had lodged a police report and that the police wanted him to take down the videos.

When Tay pointed out that the videos did not reveal any identifying information, the staff member responded that they would ask the police to contact him directly.

The police confirmed with Mothership that a report was lodged and they are looking into the matter.