GrabFood deliveryman catches teens who tried to cheat him, 1 arrested

There's no such thing as a free lunch — even if you try to cheat your way out of paying for it.

A group of teenagers' attempt to con a GrabFood deliveryman by dodging payment on a cash-on-delivery order was foiled after he caught them red-handed, resulting in one of them being arrested on August 5, police confirmed.

They had ordered about $50 worth of food from Pizza Hut late Tuesday (Aug 4) night, deliveryman Syed Shafiq told AsiaOne.

But when Syed arrived at the specified unit at Blk 248 Compassvale Road, there was no sign of them.

In an exchange over WhatsApp, they claimed that they had mistakenly selected the cash payment option and were not able to come to the door as they were "having [a] meeting".

Promising to tip him, they said they would transfer the amount to him as soon as the meeting was over.

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However, Syed insisted that he would only deliver the food once the transfer was complete.

After much back and forth, he left the food at the door on the advice of Grab's customer service department, who told him that he would be reimbursed, he said.

"I felt something fishy when people from [the opposite unit] kept on going out to throw rubbish at the chute.

"Suspected that these kids must have pulled this off. I waited near the chute to see who would collect and my suspicions were true."

Footage from Syed's stakeout showed two of them emerging from a different unit. One of them glanced around furtively before grabbing the bag of food while another appeared to act as a lookout.

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He then called the police, but two of them managed to leave before officers arrived, he said.

A 15-year-old was arrested in relation to the case and investigations are ongoing, the police confirmed.

Warning other food delivery personnel not to fall for the same ruse, Syed advised them to be sceptical of customers who attempt to pay for cash orders by other means.

"Wait till they show you proof of PayNow or bank transfer, then deliver."

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Grab said it is aware of the incident and has banned the errant user. 

"We urge all users on our platform to treat one another with respect and kindness. Users who have repeatedly displayed errant behaviour may be suspended or banned from the platform."

kimberlylim@asiaone.com