Takeaway's shock after hundreds lost to pranksters

A restaurant owner has said she has been left feeling "shocked" and "undermined" after the business lost hundreds of pounds to pranksters in one weekend.

Pok U, who runs the Cantonese restaurant Yeung Sing in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, said two orders came in, totalling about £400, which turned out to be fake.

One included a set menu for four at £91.80, 10 Desperados beers, cocktails, three bottles of wine and two portions of chicken chow mein with no veg.

Pok, 45, said it was the first time this had happened in 12 years of running the business and she wanted the people who did it to understand the impact.

She said: "It's not about the effort that we put it in, it is about the trust and also about wasting food.

"There are so many people in the world who haven't got food. I always say to my son, 'whatever we do, we never waste'.

"I've been in this business for 12 years. It's never been this hard [to operate].

"And this kind of incident makes our journey even harder."

The first order came in via the website shortly before 20:00 BST on Friday 17 July and the bill was for £250 worth of food and drink. Staff had to reopen the kitchen to make the dishes.

But when the delivery driver arrived at the address given, the people inside said they had never ordered the food.

Pok decided to offer it around to their remaining customers instead of binning it.

Two days later, during the busy Sunday evening rush, an order for £150 worth of food was placed for collection, but no-one turned up.

When they called the number given online, the person who answered said they had not made an order and had never heard of Bingham.

Pok said both orders were to be paid in cash and, as cash payments made up about 20% of the business, it had never had a problem before.

"We are not Tesco," she said. "We are a family-run business, and I remember every single customer that walks in.

"I don't know why someone would do this. I can't see the point.

"[This prank] is just undermining and I feel sad about it.

"You are undermining your own community's trust, and I think that is not acceptable."

But she insisted she would continue to run the business with trust and kindness, and she did not want to blame the people who did it, but help them understand.

She has now reported the matter to Report Fraud, and the BBC has contacted them for comment.

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