31/07/2026
🚨 WARNING TO LOCAL TAKEAWAY & FOOD BUSINESSES – SCAM ALERT 🚨
We want to make other local businesses aware of a scam that is happening repeatedly and is causing genuine financial loss to restaurants and takeaways.
We have been made aware of people phoning restaurants, placing takeaway orders and arranging delivery, only for them to later claim that they never ordered or received the food. This leaves the business out of pocket for the food, preparation, delivery and staff time.
We are also seeing another form of fraud where customers place an order, pay over the phone, receive their food, and then later dispute the payment with their bank, claiming that they did not make or authorise the transaction. The business is then left fighting to prove that a genuine order was made and delivered.
This is happening multiple times, and it cannot simply be treated as isolated incidents.
We are calling for greater authority and stronger measures to be put in place to tackle this, protect legitimate local businesses and prevent repeat offenders from continuing to target restaurants and takeaways.
📢 Please be vigilant.
If you run a takeaway, restaurant, café or delivery business, make sure your staff are aware of these scams and keep records of:
• Phone numbers used to place orders
• Names and addresses provided
• Order details and receipts
• Payment records
• Delivery information
• Any messages or correspondence
• CCTV or other evidence where available
Most importantly, please share this post with other local businesses so they can be aware and take precautions.
We want to make sure that legitimate businesses are protected and that people deliberately abusing payment systems and delivery services are held accountable.
⚠️ If you have experienced something similar, please report it to the appropriate authorities and keep all evidence.
Let’s look out for one another and stop these scams from continuing to affect local businesses.
