PichaEats conned into preparing 500-pax food for non-existent event

PichaEats will lodge a police report after being conned into preparing food for an event with 500 attendees by a scammer posing as Universiti Malaya (UM).

Taking to Facebook, the local social enterprise that partners with refugee chefs said it received the order via an official-looking letter bearing the Higher Education Ministry and UM logos on Wednesday, June 5.

The urgent catering request claimed that PichaEats’ service was sought after the previous food vendor pulled out at the last minute.

Only after signing the relevant documents did the company find out that these were forged for a non-existent event.

PichaEats also later discovered that another catering company had been scammed with the same modus operandi a day earlier, resulting in significant financial losses.

“We are filing a police report and will notify UM about scammers using their name.

“Meanwhile, 15 Picha chefs have purchased ingredients to prepare meals for 500 people. If you need food for today (lunch, high tea, dinner) for your family, or office gathering, or would like to donate so we can distribute the meals to communities in need, please DM us,” read a statement shared by the enterprise on social media.

As a public service announcement, PichaEats urged fellow businesses to check messages from any suspicious phone numbers on the Royal Malaysia Police’s semakmule website.

Malaysiakini has reached out to UM for comment and is awaiting a reply.

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COMMENT | Ethics, fraud, and quality in M'sian academia