What Are The Top Online Food Order Scams In 2025?

Food delivery apps are a little less of a luxury these days as ordering food is far easier and easier than it once was. However, with more use of such apps, the opportunity for scammers is even wider. These fraudsters exploit the trust of unsuspecting customers, so users need to educate themselves.

In this article, we will look at the most common food delivery scams, including the new Swiggy meat scam, which highlights the need for awareness of the dangers of online transactions.

Different Types of Food Delivery Scams

There have been reports of a rise in Food delivery frauds and scams which affect customers, businesses and involved parties badly. Scammers use food delivery services' various weaknesses using the following methods:

• Account Takeover (ATO): This mode involves a scammer gaining access to a user’s account login details mainly through phishing and brute force attacks. Thereafter, they make purchases, use loyalty points or sell the account details over the dark web.

• Fake Claims: This type is practised by customers themselves when they place an order then consume the meal and later report that the meal was not delivered to get their money back. This kind of misuse increases business costs as well as erodes trust between clients and businesses.

• No-Card Fraud: This practice has some similarities to ATO as scammers utilize stolen carding information to place an order without the need to produce the actual card. This kind of fraud is not noticed most of the time until the client checks his or her account statements.

• Fake Location: To commit this kind of fraud, criminals knock off the GPS location of the food delivery application so that they can trick the application into thinking that they are in the deliverable area which often causes undelivered orders and additional costs for the delivery men.

• Promo/Incentive Abuse: To obtain promotional offers and discounts, scammers create several fake accounts or use fake referrals, costs which are borne by food delivery providers.

• Automated Order Acceptance: Scammers use automated tools to accept new orders that are not meant for the scammers, but rather for other nearby stores and sell them to customers. This causes delays for the customers.

• Ghost Orders: Through actual accounts, they generate non-existing fake orders and then request refunds citing that the orders were never delivered. Such schemes kill the earnings of the restaurants and cause distrust.

Read more: Electricity KYC Scam: DoT To Block 392 Handsets Involved In Cybercrime.

Tips To Keep Your Orders And Information Secure

It’s sensible for you to maintain the privacy of your orders and personal information while dealing with the food delivery system. Some helpful tips are listed below for data protection:

• Use Official Customer Support: Use the official help options using their app or the official contact numbers and avoid those picked up from Google searches.

• Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Set up a 2FA to increase the protection of your account from unauthorised access.

• Check Your Bank Statements Regularly: Transaction of funds through the account must always be double-checked with no new and strange transactions that go unnoticed and should be reported immediately.

• Beware of Fake Promotions: Dangerously sweet promotions should not be practised where customers are required to share their details outside the app.

• Secure Payment Systems: Use this platform to make your transactions so that your card details are not saved if possible.

• Report Unusual Activities: Activities which appear unusual on the account should be reported as soon as possible to the support team of the application so that more losses do not arise.

Swiggy’s Response On The Customer Service Scam

Swiggy later responded, clarifying that they do not have an official customer care number and they never ask their customers to give any OTPs or bank information over a phone call. For grievances and queries, customers are required to the in-app support. They also offered any kind of help if needed from their side to help the victims get justice.

After the incident, Swiggy also established several other security measures such as multi-factor authentication, regular security audits, and campaigns for spreading awareness about cybercrime to protect people from cyber criminals.

Conclusion

The recent Scams involving food delivery services like the Swiggy scam warn users to be always careful. Understanding the most common scams and following some online etiquette can go a long way in securing customers’ information and reducing the risk of scams. With the right level of care, individuals and platforms alike can improve the security features of food delivery services in the online world.

You can also reach out to Jaagruk Bharat through their community page with any questions that you might come across.