By Yuzhou Hu

The rise of food delivery services in Shanghai has brought us great convenience, and our dependence on them continues to increase. Nevertheless, it seems that not all restaurants on the platform are worthy of our trust. Shine reported that certain restaurants are unlicensed, which bear safety and hygiene problems, while others are fake businesses aiming to steal funds from your bank account. 

According to Shine, when Pei, one of the victims, ordered food from an online restaurant, it never occurred to him that the order would cost him a few thousand renminbi. 

Image via Kankanews

The incident took place during January of this year. When Pei was waiting to get his belly fed after ordering the food, he got a call from the ‘food delivery man,’ asking him to pay a supplement of RMB2 for the packing box. 

Without hesitation, Pei gave the delivery man his online paying code as he advised. However, instead of RMB2, Pei lost RMB2,000 from his account. Nonetheless, when he realized it was a scam, he already lost contact with the delivery man.

Fortunately, the scamming gang was caught last week by Shanghai police. “The four suspects practiced fraud by registering fake restaurants on food delivery apps,” Chen Hui, one of the police officers, told Kankanews. “The key to the scam is the online paying code. Once they acquire it from the customers, they can withdraw money from their bank accounts by exploiting a loophole, up to RMB1,000 each time.” 

Until now, over 50 citizens in Shanghai have fallen victim to the hustle.

Image via Kankanews

“More hoaxes have emerged since the popularization of mobile payment,” say police. “To safeguard their property, citizens should think twice before offering their online payment code.” 

The key to ensuring you are not the next victim is never to allow anyone to see your online payment barcode and number.

[Top Image via Pexels]

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family (WeChat ID: urbanfamilyshanghai). Follow the Urban Family WeChat account by scanning the QR code below. Click "Read more" (阅读原文) below for more Shanghai news and guides from Urban Family.