If you’re seeing a masked man in the profile photo of Foodpanda Singapore’s official Instagram account, don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with your phone. The company confirmed today that its Instagram account had been hacked.
The name on the Instagram account was changed to OSAMA, and its bio details to the phrase “Nothing Important.” What’s more, the company’s 20,000+ follower count was seemingly zeroed out by the hacking. The account was rocking a mere 104 followers when we checked in just after 3pm (it’s back up to a healthier 5,000+ at this point).
There was also a link to a Twitter account in which the user stated that he or she was from Saudi Arabia.
Foodpanda said the breach happened over the weekend and that it was still working to resolve the issue. It also apologized for “any inappropriate messages” customers might have received as a result of the breach.
“In the meantime, please do not respond to any activity from this account and we’ll update you as soon as the issue is resolved,” it said in a statement.
And believe us, there was some inappropriate messaging going on. One customer on the receiving end of an allegedly hacker-based message was Jenny Liang Leran.
The 23-year-old had complained on Instagram over an issue regarding her delayed food order. She said her order had not arrived after more than an hour, and that she could not cancel it when she made the request on Foodpanda’s website.
Later, messages riddled with profanities were sent to her from Foodpanda’s Instagram account, such as: “Delete this you dumbwh*re”, “Suck my d***” and “F*** you bitch.”
She told Coconuts Singapore that a representative from Foodpanda had already reached out to her on Facebook to apologize over the matter.
In Foodpanda’s message to Liang, it said: “Our IG account was hacked over the weekend and the messages you received were not coming from us. I am very sorry that you received these inappropriate messages.”
“Please note that we are working hard to resolve this issue with Instagram directly, and in the meantime, don’t respond to any activities that might come from that account,” it added.
Foodpanda also said that it was liaising with the affected customer. A refund, you’ll be happy to know, was made to Ms Liang over her order.
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