Beware of fraudsters impersonating food delivery platforms

SINGAPORE – Be careful if you get a call from someone claiming to represent a food delivery platform.

The person is likely to be part of a scam variant that targets food and beverage (F&B) businesses on food delivery platforms.

In a statement on Nov 18, the police said there have been at least four such cases reported since August, with total losses of at least $42,000.

In this type of scam, the victims – F&B businesses – would receive unsolicited calls from scammers claiming to represent food delivery platforms, said the police.

The fraudsters would cite upgrades or connectivity issues with these businesses’ point-of-sale terminals – usually touchscreen devices used to receive F&B orders made on apps and other online platforms.

The scammers would then ask the victims to provide personal information such as e-mail addresses, mobile numbers, platform passwords and/or one-time passwords, purportedly to verify the victims’ identities.

In one case, a victim was even asked to provide a photograph of his NRIC via WhatsApp.

With the phished information, scammers would access the victims’ platform accounts or e-mail accounts to maliciously update bank account details, add spoofed e-mail accounts and change account notification settings.

The victims’ earnings would then be diverted to the scammers’ bank accounts or payment service provider accounts, the police said.

Victims would discover the diversion only after making further checks with the platforms.

In WhatsApp screenshots released by the police, the fraudsters appear to use company logos from platforms such as GrabFood and Deliveroo as their profile photos.

The police urge members of the public to avoid providing any personal details, sending photographs of identification cards or transferring money to unknown parties.

If in doubt, call the ScamShield helpline on 1799 to check.