'Devastated and disappointed': Lalamove driver gets $2 compensation after losing $200 in job scam

A Lalamove driver accepted a job in the wee hours of the morning for “learning experience”. 

But he ended up with $200 in debt after borrowing the money to pay for a client’s order in advance — which turned out to be a scam. 

While the incident happened last March, the delivery rider told Stomp in an article on Sunday (Nov 30) that he wanted to bring it up now due to the recent prevalence of similar scams. 

He described his initial reluctance to accept the job at around 2am, which promised a $140 commission. 

“I’ve never done this kind before as the previous jobs I accepted were all paid online,” he reportedly said. “But on that fateful night, no such jobs were available. So I decided to take it up as a learning experience.’ 

“What’s more, it was on the Lalamove app. What could go wrong?” 

The client, who messaged him using an Indonesian number, first asked the delivery rider to buy $23.80 worth of food at an eatery in Bedok using his own money. 

He was then asked to buy drinks, potato chips and tissue paper packs amounting to $5.75 from a 7-Eleven outlet opposite the restaurant. 

“I thought it was part of the process,” said the delivery rider. “He then told me that I needed to top up $155 in his Singtel Dash virtual card. 

”I told him I didn’t have enough cash and asked him to use PayNow. But he told me he was a tourist living in a friend’s house.” 

The man said that his client threatened to cancel the job if he did not top up his e-wallet. 

"I was a bit shocked and sad as all the items I had bought earlier couldn't be refunded and it was my hard-earn money. So I forked out $155 out of my own pocket and topped up the card for him,” he added. 

The rider said that the client stopped replying after he had reached the given address. 

He then lodged a police report and officers who arrived 45 minutes later told him that the job was a scam all along. 

The man claimed that he was only given a $2 compensation from Lalamove. 

“I was very stressed as I needed to return the money I borrowed for the purchases that I made,” he said. “I am very devastated and disappointed as I lost all my hard-earned money”. 

Lalamove told Stomp that they have addressed the incident by “engaging directly with the affected driver partner at that time”. 

“We continuously educate our drivers to avoid unusual orders and to report any suspicious activities through the Lalamove driver app,” a spokesperson said. 

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chingshijie@asiaone.com