PETALING JAYA: Social enterprise and catering company PichaEats became the target of an elaborate scam involving a fraudulent order for a non-existent event allegedly at Universiti Malaya.
In a social media post, the company revealed that they received an “urgent catering request from ‘Universiti Malaya’ for a 500 pax event on Friday (7 June) because their vendor pulled out last minute,“ with the company having already proceeded to sign the documents and make preparations for the order.
“Long story short, it’s a scam/prank. There’s actually NO event or order and the documents are forged,“ the post added. The forged documents even bore the Higher Education Ministry letterhead.
PichaEats later discovered that another catering company had fallen victim to a similar scam involving a fake ‘Universiti Malaya’ order, resulting in significant financial losses.
As a result of the sham order, 15 Picha Chefs, predominantly refugees, had already purchased ingredients to prepare meals for 500 people.
In a separate post, PichaEats is seeking the public’s help and is now offering the pre-made meals for purchase.
“If you need food for today (lunch, high tea, dinner) for your family, office gathering, or would like to donate so we can distribute the meals to communities in need, please DM us! We can also be reached at +60126794353 (Picha Hotline WhatsApp),“ the company stated.
A police report has since been lodged and they have even notified Universiti Malaya about the misuse of their name by the scammers.
