It is usually a happy occasion when a food caterer receives a large order. Such quantities pretty much guarantee good remuneration when the orders are ready.
However, one food caterer in Penampang, Malaysia, was sorely disappointed when she realised an order of 150 meals was merely a scam.
According to The Star, the order that caterer Jolene Robin, 43, received was worth a few thousand ringgit.
Robin’s time and effort in preparing the order eventually went unpaid, as the buyers went AWOL when payment was due.
Robin had received an order for 150 lunch sets meant for three days. A friend had referred the order to her.
A person claiming to be an army officer reached out to the friend about a week prior. He needed 150 meals to accommodate new recruits.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, for illustration purposes only.
Robin tried to ask for a deposit. However, she knew that she could only make a claim for payment only after fulfilment. This is apparently how government orders work.
“So I did not get suspicious when the person said that he was not able to pay a deposit,” the caterer told the Malaysian daily.
He had asked Robin for a quotation. Supposedly, he told her he would pay in cash after she delivered the order.
During the process, three different phone numbers contacted Robin.
One of them was a man who claimed to be from the same department as the first. That was when Robin started to feel suspicious about the entire incident.
On 30 May, the delivery date, the people who were supposed to collect the 150 lunch sets were not reachable.
Source: The Star
They had deleted the WhatsApp messages they exchanged with Robin and blocked her.
As the food was already prepared, she sold them at her stall at a nearby festival for only RM5 (S$1.47) each.
Thankfully, all 150 lunch sets were snapped up, and the food was not wasted.
She said she is now sharing her experience to warn others not to fall for similar scams.
After she made her story public, an army man based in Kuala Lumpur reached out to Robin. Per The Star, he informed her that his name had been used by the scammers.
He has since lodged a police report about this to clear his name.
The district’s Commercial Crimes Investigation Department has also received several reports about the scams. Investigations into the case are ongoing.
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Featured image adapted from The Star and Wikimedia Commons.
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