\n<\/p>\n
No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.<\/em><\/p>\n Three food delivery riders turned up to the same condominium unit with three separate cash-on-delivery orders only to find out no one at the unit had ordered anything.<\/p>\n One of the riders, 21-year-old Klinsmann Tay, decided to warn others about what could be a potential scam in a series of videos.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Klinsmann, he arrived at West Coast Vale condominium on July 6 at around 3.45pm after collecting an order from an eatery at Ng Teng Fong Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n The person who opened the door was the landlady of the unit, who told him the intended recipient of the order, her tenant, wasn’t home.<\/p>\n Klinsmann tried calling the phone number on the order several times, but nobody picked up.<\/p>\n He also noticed the registered phone number appeared to be a Malaysia number, leading him to suspect this wasn’t your typical failed food delivery.<\/p>\n Shortly after, another two food delivery riders turned up, each with another cash-on-delivery order for the same unit.<\/p>\n “That’s when I knew this probably wasn’t just three unlucky deliveries,” Klinsmann tells 8days.sg.<\/p>\n He then suspected and told his fellow delivery riders that “this is a scam one” and that it “should be a loan shark harassment” tactic.<\/p>\n In his video, he was seen to advise the other riders there to cancel the deliveries, and\u00a0 suggested they either eat the meals themselves or give them away, instead of\u00a0letting the food go to waste.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shortly afterwards, a condominium security officer arrived to speak with the landlady.<\/p>\n Klinsmann clarified with 8days.sg that it was the landlady and her family who lodged a police report, as the orders had allegedly been placed using the tenant’s Foodpanda account but delivered to the landlady’s address.<\/p>\n While many viewers were shocked by the videos, Klinsmann, who’s been a Foodpanda delivery rider for one-and-a-half years, wasn’t.<\/p>\n He says this isn’t the first time he has encountered suspicious cash-on-delivery orders.<\/p>\n “I’ve experienced similar cases before. The difference is that I didn’t have the audience or equipment back then to document what happened,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n According to him, incidents like these are regularly discussed among riders while they wait for jobs outside shopping malls and at collection points.<\/p>\n “Almost every few days, another rider will tell me they’ve experienced this exact scenario involving a cash-on-delivery order and an address where the account holder doesn’t even live.”<\/p>\n While the mysterious deliveries are frustrating enough, Klinsmann says what really hurts riders is the amount of time lost trying to resolve them.<\/p>\n According to him, riders first must wait about 10 minutes just to get through to customer support.<\/p>\n “We do not get compensation for around 30 minutes of wait time,” he tells us.<\/p>\n For riders whose income depend almost entirely on how many deliveries they complete, every minute counts.<\/p>\n “You’ve wasted your time, and you still haven’t collected payment because of this problem,” Klinsmann adds.<\/p>\n According to Klinsmann, riders can’t tell whether an order is cash-on-delivery before accepting it, and they only find out after collecting the food and start the delivery.<\/p>\n “As riders, our eventual goal is to lobby for the removal of cash-on-delivery orders. It will prevent this loophole from being abused and make food delivery much more efficient,\u201d he tells 8days.sg.<\/p>\n In response to queries from 8days.sg, Foodpanda said it was aware of the incident and confirmed that all three affected delivery partners have been fully supported.<\/p>\n The company said the riders would not incur any financial losses or performance penalties, adding that it has an existing policy to ensure delivery partners are not left bearing the costs of fraudulent activities.<\/p>\n Foodpanda also encouraged riders who encounter suspicious situations to contact its rider support team immediately via the Pandarider app for assistance.<\/p>\n The company added that it takes misuse of its platform for unlawful activities seriously and has implemented account verification processes, fraud detection algorithms and ongoing order monitoring to identify and mitigate suspicious transactions. It also regularly shares advisories from the Singapore Police Force with delivery partners, reminding them to stay vigilant against potential scams.<\/p>\n As for why cash-on-delivery remains an option, Foodpanda said the feature continues to serve customers who may not have access to cashless payment methods.<\/p>\n “Our Cash on Delivery option remains available to ensure the service is accessible to customers who may not have access to cashless payment methods, we have a zero tolerance for its exploitation,” the company said.<\/p>\n Foodpanda added that it will continue strengthening its processes to provide “a safe and pleasant experience for everyone who uses our services.”<\/p>\n Since Klinsmann’s videos went viral, he says many fellow riders have reached out to share similar experiences.<\/p>\n The comments section quickly filled with delivery riders saying this has been happening for years.<\/p>\n “They should just ban cash payments,” one rider commented.<\/p>\n Others acknowledged that while cash-on-delivery remains convenient for some customers, it also leaves riders exposed when people misuse the feature.<\/p>\n Many also praised Klinsmann for staying behind to warn the other two riders instead of simply cancelling his own order and moving on.<\/p>\n “You are awesome for staying to help de-escalate the situation instead of just leaving to complete more deliveries,” a netizen wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n