SINGAPORE - A Foodpanda delivery rider is being investigated by the police and his company for allegedly duping a customer into paying cash for her food order, though she had already paid the amount via Nets.

Human resource executive Jasmine Tan, 30, shared her experience in a Facebook post on Thursday (July 4), saying that she had ordered food to be delivered to her Punggol home at 7.30pm the day before.

She told The Straits Times over the phone on Friday that she noticed that her order from fast-food chain Popeyes was marked as delivered on the Foodpanda app at 7.45pm.

However, the rider arrived with the food only about half an hour after that, limping and with a bandage on his knee.

The rider, who looked to be a man in his 20s or 30s, claimed that his electric scooter was involved in a hit-and-run accident with a car near Oasis Primary School, and Ms Tan's order was damaged in the process.

He added that he returned to Popeyes to reorder the food, which costs $34.09, and asked Ms Tan for cash, promising that Foodpanda would refund the amount to her in six days.

Ms Tan told ST: "He was stammering a lot when I saw him, but I thought it was because he had an accident. I didn't think that much of it, because my children were also very hungry from waiting for over an hour."

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She paid the man the money, but was shocked to find out from a Foodpanda service representative later on that the rider claimed he did not take any cash from them. She decided to make a police report that night.

In response to queries, police confirmed that a report was lodged and are investigating the case.

A spokesman for Foodpanda said on Friday: "This is an allegation we take very seriously and (we) are investigating the matter as an immediate priority."

Ms Tan said that after she posted about the incident online, several other people contacted her and said that they had been caught in a similar situation.

"The rider would always tell customers the same reason - that he was injured in an accident," she added.

A staff member of Foodpanda reassured her in a call on Friday morning that it is looking into the matter, and it would process a refund within 48 hours, she said.