Subscribe to our Telegram channel for our latest stories and breaking news.
With COVID-19 movement restrictions in place, loan sharks in Singapore have found a new way to harass people who owe them money
On Saturday, 6 March, Facebook user Afzai Nizan shared photos of foodpanda delivery riders gathered outside an apartment unit at a HDB flat in Bedok.
In the photos, policemen can be seen talking to the riders.
“Just another foodpanda prank order again?” wrote Afzai, who is a neighbour in the same building.
“They all waited outside, owner at home but unaware of the orders made?”
He told SAYS a total of eight to 10 riders were waiting outside the same address, all holding packets of food that went unclaimed by the homeowner.
The Singapore Police Force has since confirmed that the incident was a case of deliberate harrassment
According to Mothership, preliminary investigations have led them to believe that the resident received multiple food delivery orders made by unlicensed moneylenders.
The police warned that they will not tolerate any type of harassment by the loan sharks.
“Those who deliberately cause annoyance and disruption to the public sense of safety, peace, and security will be arrested and dealt with severely in accordance with the law,” the police told the Singaporean news portal.
This is not the first time a loan shark in Singapore has used food deliveries to harass debtors
According to AsiaOne, a similar incident occurred just last month, while in April last year, a family was sent a whopping SGD800 (RM2,400) worth of food that they did not order, allegedly by loan sharks.
Meanwhile, Mothership reported that foodpanda Singapore is aware of the rising trend and has come up with a blacklisting system to block customers from making orders that their algorithms deem as fraudulent.
The food delivery company has also previously warned against such errant use of their services by reminding the public to consider delivery riders “who are working hard round the clock”.