Rising Fraud Among Restaurant and Delivery Services (Infographic)

A fraud scheme where cybercriminals leverage the Telegram messaging platform to steal from restaurants and food delivery services was just identified by research and analysis from Sift’s Digital Trust and Safety Architects. The company discovered that bad actors are advertising their services on Telegram forums in order to purchase food and beverage orders at a reduced price, using stolen payment information on behalf of customers.

The advent of fraud marketplaces appearing on messaging apps comes as food and beverage delivery apps have seen notable increases in attempted payment fraud. In fact, according to data from the Sift global network of more than 34,000 apps and sites, fraud rates among restaurant apps and food delivery services increased 14 percent from Q3 to Q4 2020.

Payment fraud, as orchestrated by the bad actors using Telegram, can have devastating effects for merchants. When consumers notice their credit cards have been stolen and used for unapproved transactions…