11-day chicken rice feast? Hawker receives suspicious order from 'big boss' for $2,300 worth of food

Chicken rice and red wine may seem like an odd combination, but that's exactly what a "big boss" tried to order from a Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice stall at Golden Mile Food Centre. 

The stall owner, surnamed Xu, told Shin Min Daily News that he received a phone call from an unknown "big boss" — identified as Yang— on July 5, who wanted to bring 30 employees to the food centre for a celebration. 

She was also told that they would patronise her stall for 11 days. 

"He asked me to calculate the total cost for 11 days, and said he would pay in cash the next day. I was a little suspicious, but I still prepared five extra chickens," said the 54-year-old. 

She surmised Yang had probably found her number online. 

After tabulating the total cost, the 54-year-old told Yang that his bill came up to $2,280. 

The next day, Xu received another call from someone claiming to be an employee of Yang. The employee told Xu that Yang loved red wine, and asked if Xu could help purchase it on their behalf. 

Xu rejected the request and hung up on the customer.

"Times are hard, and these people are making things harder. I hope fellow hawkers will take note [of this] and not fall for the scam," Xu told the Chinese daily. 

Not the only one 

It turns out, Xu's chicken rice stall isn't the only F&B business receiving such fake calls for mass orders, which are presumably part of a scam.

Over the past week, a couple of local restaurants have come forward complaining that they have gotten similar calls from "big bosses" making fake huge orders to treat their employees. 

The owner of Outram Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha, surnamed Lin, told Shin Min he received a call for a reservation of 20 tables' worth of "luxury meals" from someone who claimed to be a local business owner. 

However, the caller appeared to be using a Hong Kong-based number.

"After he booked the tables, he also wanted to buy gifts for his staff. I recommended our Bak Kut Teh spices, but he wanted me to order boxes of Buddha Jumps Over The Wall from our supplier that are worth $550 each," said the 40-year-old. 

Lin contacted his supplier to order 47 boxes of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, which came up to a total of $25,850 after a discount. 

He also passed the "boss" his bank account details so the latter could make payment for the order.

"He sent me a screenshot of the bank transfer, but I checked my bank account several times and the money wasn't there," said Lin. 

Another business, Tan Ser Seng Herbs Restaurant, was also targeted by suspected scammers using the same modus operandi. 

Chen, the third-generation owner of the restaurant, told Shin Min that one of his employees received a phone call from someone named "Kenny Ma" last Friday, who wanted to make a reservation for 60 people. 

"We were very excited and we thought it was good business," said the 31-year-old. 

In a subsequent call with "Ma", Chen was asked to place an order for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall from a designated merchant.

The soup restaurant owner was told he had to make payment on the customer's behalf, and the latter would pay him back double. 

When the other party refused to make a deposit for the order, Chen suspected something was amiss and consulted his friends in the F&B industry — only to realise that they too have been receiving such scam calls.

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claudiatan@asiaone.com