Why coffee shops in Guangdong keep falling for group order scams

Multiple coffee shop operators in Guangdong report falling for the same group order scam, some twice within half a month. The pattern: a caller posing as a school or company places a large drink and cake order, then asks the owner to also buy gifts such as Wagyu beef from a supplier they recommend. Payment goes out, goods never arrive, and the supplier vanishes along with the order.

Owners say the scripts are identical and the corporate accounts look verified, which points to an organized gang rather than isolated con artists. Similar tricks previously hit flower shops and bakeries. Operators are posting warnings and urging peers to share clues with police, though many report difficulty getting cases formally accepted for investigation, so the scams continue.

Recently, multiple coffee shop operators have reported on social media that they have encountered group order scams. The scammers purchase large quantities of coffee drinks under the guise of school or corporate team-building events, then ask the shop owners to help purchase gifts such as Wagyu beef and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. They collude with so-called suppliers to set traps, causing the owners to pay without receiving the goods. This type of scam is particularly frequent in the Guangdong region, with multiple shop owners encountering the same trap on the same day. The scammers use verified corporate accounts and their scripts are identical, suggesting an organized gang operation. Shop owners have been posting reminders to warn fellow industry peers not to let their guard down because of a big order. Faced with frequent scams, operators are calling for joint efforts to provide clues to the police, but they face difficulties in getting cases accepted and filed for investigation.

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Recently, many coffee shop owners have exposed on social media that they have fallen into the trap of group order scams.

The scammers' usual routine is: first impersonating a school, company, or enterprise, using the pretext of organizing a team-building event to claim they want to order coffee drinks and cakes in large quantities. After negotiating the transaction details with the shop owner, they then ask the owner to help purchase gifts such as Wagyu beef or Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. In reality, they are colluding with the so-called suppliers to set a trap, making the owner pay without receiving the goods.

This type of group order scam has been exposed before, and operators across the country generally report that the scammers' methods are nothing new—similar tricks appeared earlier in the flower shop and bakery industries. However, in the past month or so, these traps have appeared frequently in the Guangdong region, with even several shop owners encountering the same scam on the same day.

Some netizens have noticed from the shop owners' posts that the scammers they encountered may not be the same person, but judging from the company names, they likely belong to an organized fraud gang. These people have different user IDs and profile pictures, but the scripts they use when communicating with coffee shops are identical, casting a wide net to set traps and waiting for some "unlucky one" to take the bait.

In addition to Guangzhou, Shunde, and other places, coffee industry practitioners in other nearby cities have also reported encountering exactly the same scam, and the scammers all use identity-verified corporate accounts.

When some shop owners faced group orders worth over a thousand yuan, they mistakenly thought it was a windfall from heaven. Seeing that the other party's social media account had been verified, their vigilance relaxed, and after agreeing on the cooperation, they excitedly stocked up in advance. Fortunately, they discovered the anomaly in time and avoided greater financial losses.

Regarding this repeatedly appearing old scam, shop owners are posting reminders to fellow peers to stay vigilant and not lose their guard just because of a big order with not even a deposit paid. At the same time, they also lament that running a small coffee shop business, they never expected to be targeted by a scammer team.

Most operators admit that there are countless warning posts about such scams on various social media platforms, and they can tell from the conversation whether it is a real business or a fake group order. However, such scams still spring up like mushrooms across the country, and with a moment's carelessness, some new shop managers fall for them, falling into the scammers' carefully designed pits and suffering heavy losses.

Some netizens suggest that since many coffee shops have encountered traps set by the same group of people, why not join forces to provide clues to the police and root out these people who come out to scam every few days.

Some operators have considered this proposal, but the reality is that if they see through the scam early and do not lose money, the police cannot accept the case after reporting it. And if someone unfortunately falls for it, the financial loss may not meet the threshold for filing a case, making it very difficult to recover the defrauded money.

At a time when scams are frequent, coffee shop owners can only heighten their vigilance and not let a sudden "heaven-sent fortune" cloud their judgment, thereby falling into the scammers' crude traps.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.