Incognia report flags top fraud challenges faced by global food delivery companies during 2024

Identity solutions specialist, Incognia, is releasing its 2024 Frontline Report which ranks the top fraud challenges faced by global food delivery and ride-hailing companies in 2024.

This shows that fake accounts represented 57% of the driver side fraud, while refund and promotion abuse were tied for the top consumer side fraud type, each representing 48% of total high risk assessments returned by Incognia respectively. 

Incognia works with just over half of the largest food delivery and ride-hailing companies globally. These companies together represent over 20% of all of the food delivery and ride-hailing users worldwide. The company offers tailored solutions to the gig economy helping them to mitigate complex fraud challenges like fake account creation, account sharing, refund and promotion abuse. 

In a scenario analysed by Incognia, one fraudster created 800 fake accounts to exploit new user coupons and was able to steal 1.5% of the total redeemed coupon value that month. Another case showed how a bad actor was able to access 400 different accounts on a single device in order to consume thousands of dollars worth of promotions in 30 days. 

Similarly, refund abuse, which accounted for nearly 50% of the consumer side high risk assessments returned by Incognia, can represent significant losses if gone undetected. In one instance, Incognia detected that a fraudster using a single Samsung device accessed over 200 accounts, making $5,014 in transactions and reclaiming $4,163 of it through fraudulent refunds - an 83% success rate. If the ordered products items were resold, the potential return on investment would be significant. In effect, $5,014 worth of inventory was obtained for just $851.

“Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, relentlessly targeting gig economy platforms with advanced fraud techniques that erode user trust and degrade the overall experience,” says André Ferraz, Co-founder and CEO at Incognia. “This report exposes the broader fraud landscape affecting gig platforms. With the right solution - like ours - these companies can detect and prevent suspicious behaviour seamlessly, without adding friction for legitimate users.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Food delivery will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in March, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.