Just Eat: Takeaway owner loses almost £9,000 in suspected fraud

Joe Morgan says he has had to borrow money from the bank to keep his takeaway open

A takeaway owner on the outskirts of Belfast has said he has lost almost £9,000 in a scam on his account with the delivery service Just Eat.

Joe Morgan owns Nemo's fish and chips takeaway in Finaghy.

He said it appeared that bank details on his account had been changed, meaning someone else was receiving money he had earned.

Last week, it was reported that Just Eat was investigating reports of fraud from several takeaways.

An estimated £15,000 has been lost by the businesses in total and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has started an inquiry into suspected fraud.

The Northern Ireland Takeaway Association told Good Morning Ulster on Friday that it had been helping the takeaways that have reported losses.

Mr Morgan told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme he was "devastated" after he did not receive £8,650.

He said he had to borrow money from the bank to keep his takeaway open.

Just Eat says it is investigating the matter

"There's no other way around it, if I don't borrow money I won't survive.

"It means very, very hard months ahead, it means I'll have to borrow money to pay suppliers, PAYE, HMRC - there's a lot of stuff that people don't see in the background. Chips don't just make themselves."

He added: "I've never been in this bad a shape. For the staff, it's not good for them wondering if they're going to get paid."

Mr Morgan said trade had been good in the early part of the coronavirus pandemic but "the shop has been quiet for the last few months".

He said he is worried about the prospect of losing his business and letting his staff down, and that he was in a "waiting game" while the PSNI investigate.

Michael Henderson, the director of the Northern Ireland Takeaways Association, said: "We aren't here to point fingers... the one thing we know is that these takeaways are heartbroken."

He said the takeaways affected are struggling as it has happened during the traditionally quieter months of January and February.

'Be vigilant about online security'

Just Eat told BBC News NI that it was investigating the matter.

It said it was aware that three of its restaurant partners may have been affected by alleged fraudulent activity on their Just Eat accounts.

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"We take the safeguarding of restaurant accounts on the Just Eat platform extremely seriously," it said.

"We always advise restaurant partners to be vigilant about their online security and recommend that they use unique passwords for different online platforms.

"We continually review our security measures."

You can listen to the full interview on Good Morning Ulster programme playback on BBC Sounds.