'It felt like a real transaction': Man loses $190 after helping Lalamove customer run 'errands'

He thought that he'd scored a lucrative job — but ended up paying $192 out of his own pocket. 

Chen (transliteration), 43, told Shin Min Daily News that he'd received a job from a customer on the Lalamove app last Sunday (May 26). 

He has a full-time job as an engineer, but does Lalamove deliveries on Sunday to earn extra cash. 

The customer asked Chen to help him buy a burger from McDonald's, and some other items from 7-Eleven. 

Chen said that the job came with a $89 priority fee, and after including the other services charges, he would earn $121. 

He then accepted the job and began communicating with the customer over WhatsApp. 

"He used an Indonesian number and asked me to go to McDonald's and a 7-Eleven along Orchard Road to buy food. 

"He texted me repeatedly to indicate what burger he wanted. I later went to the convenience store and sent him a photo of their potato chips so he could choose the flavour he wanted." 

Chen spent $27 at McDonald's, and another $7 at 7-Eleven buying potato chips, drinks and paper towels. 

The customer also asked Chen to help him top-up $158 into his e-wallet.

"He asked me to keep the receipts properly and not fold them. It felt like a real transaction, that's why I agreed to pay for the items first and do the top-up." 

However, things began to go awry when the customer stopped replying Chen after he reached the address he was given — a landed property in MacRitchie Reservoir. 

"When I reached the location, I could not contact him. When an elderly man came out of the house, I even asked if he was the one that made the order." 

Realising that he'd been duped, Chen filed a police report and made an appeal on the delivery platform. 

Chen also told Shin Min he suspected that the person had purposely used the address of a landed property to avoid suspicion. 

"Seeing that the address is at an expensive property, and how the customer is willing to pay so much for priority service, one wouldn't think that they would scam others of a few hundred dollars.

"Although I think it'll be hard to get my money back, I hope I can at least earn some of the delivery fees," he said.

Responding to Shin Min's queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged. 

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Lalamove said in a statement on Wednesday (May 29) that they are investigating the matter and are in touch with the affected driver-partner.

The user who placed the order on the platform has been permanently banned.

"The safety of our driver-partners is the foundation of our partnership with them and is paramount to us. To provide sufficient support, Lalamove constantly maintains close communication with the driver-partner community on ways to protect themselves on our platform.

"Furthermore, as part of our driver-partner onboarding process, training modules are also provided for driver-partners to cultivate best practices when using the platform, accepting, and making delivery orders."

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