Deliveroo driver just messaged me on Facebook...

[Ranna]

Have NC’d for this.

I had some food delivered this evening. All fine. Delivery guy seemed very nice at the door, gave him £2 tip. --Don’t know if that’s relevant

Anyway about five minutes ago I received a friend request on Facebook, I hardly use it, so was a bit surprised but accepted as I could see it was someone from my area.

Very quick message (don’t want to be too outing) along the lines of:

“Hey I delivered your food tonight from the restaurant and thought I’d say hi. Fancy going for a drink sometime?”

Now, my AIBU is am I wrong to be totally freaked out by this?? Or is this just the modern thing? (I’m only in my 30s but don’t really use social media or OLD so my perception might be a bit skewed).

Would he not have to had really gone to a lot of effort to find me? I have a pretty common name. And he knows my address now. I feel weird.

Had a quick google and this has apparently happened to some other people

Oh and fuck off daily mail.

A similar thing happened to my sister. She got a prescription from the pharmacy and the man drove to her house and put his name and number through her door. I told her to report it but she went on a date with him instead!

Thegreat yes. It’s the fact he has my address and full name that worries me a bit.

Anyway about five minutes ago I received a friend request on Facebook, I hardly use it, so was a bit surprised but accepted as I could see it was someone from my area.

Whilst messaging you on fb is not professional, why on earth are you adding complete strangers and giving them access to you?

That’s the problem though isn’t it? Things that would be romantic and daring in romcoms are creepy and embarsssing in real life!

There was a thread on here the other week from a woman who fancied her delivery driver and was being offered multiple suggestions about how to ask him out ie giving him her phone no, phoning his work etc and most people thought it was romantic as opposed to creepy. (im not saying I agree, Im just saying it from a different point of view )

You should just decline his offer, delete him from your friends list, block him if you feel more comfortable and stop adding complete strangers.

My friend ended up living with her delivery guy!

I had simailr happen years ago after viewing a flat. The estate agent accessed my number back at the office to text me and ask me out. I was only 21 so it was pretty creepy! I agree with pp - I think in their heads it’s so romantic and will make a great story whereas I felt creeped out and a bit violated he’d stolen and misused my private number!

Complain to Deliveroo. Unlike Just Eat, Deliveroo employ their delivery people and I think they have rules against staff using customer details for personal use.

Anyway about five minutes ago I received a friend request on Facebook, I hardly use it, so was a bit surprised but accepted as I could see it was someone from my area. That was his green light for him to send you a message.
In your OP, you said "is this just the modern thing". The thing is, is excepting friend requests from people you don't know on Facebook the modern thing. Because in my mind, neither is a good idea.

Look, this is a HUGE data protection issue. You give your name and address to Deliveroo for business use only. This is serious misuse and they could be in breach of the data protection act.

They need to put measures in place to stop data like names&addresses being able to be passed around or used for other purposes; who knows who could get it?!
I'm assuming you give Deliveroo your credit card details too, would you be happy with them being passed around? (They will be encrypted - hopefully - so it's not likely - but it's the principle!)

Is this some kind of scam then or just delivery drivers looking for love?

I found myself wavering when I realised it was Deliveroo as given they cycle they can often be in reasonable shape.....but no! It still gives off creepy vibes. Like that time the taxi driver asked me out halfway home from a night out.

Having said that it must be a bit of a quandary if they do meet someone they like through work. There isn't a non-weird way to approach someone, unless they just hang about hoping you'll order a takeaway again so they can do it in person. But then that might put you off your dinner.

stop adding strangers. That was a really stupid thing to do. And improve your privacy settings so strangers can't find you!

further reading: ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/data-protection-principles/

Stray as I said I don’t use Facebook much and no one ever adds me really so I just accepted without thinking. Thought it was probably someone from work/ a local group that I’ve just joined.

Also I don’t have my address or any information about myself on there so there’s not much to find out.

We live and learn.

Definitely okay to feel uncomfortable about this! A few years ago I took a package in for my husband and my husband received a text shortly after from somebody asking quite directly for sex. Obviously the delivery man didn't read the name on the package and thought it was my number on the details. It actually really shook me up, for all I knew he could have been aggressive or waiting outside. It caused some long lasting anxiety issues for me. It's unprofessional, creepy and in my opinion is a symbol of male privilege that they don't see how it can be threatening to use someone's personal details in this way, especially when they know where the person lives.

Block him. (Unless you are single and he is v good looking...)

He will have remembered your address and name from the fact he has just delivered surely, he would need that info. There can be more than one name at an address.

This was a topic on Jeremy Vine on radio 2 today.

Its misuse of personal data and the dp commssion would be interested if he pestered you.
You can complain to the company first and see what they say quoting DP Act.

Similar happened to me with a taxi driver - local company similar to Uber in terms of using an app and being able to track your driver / phone each other. I was creeped out in the car as he asked me weird questions and then shortly after I got out he texted me a few times. I felt very awkward as he had dropped me home to a clearly empty house.

I actually rang the taxi company and said that although I didn't know what their policies were, I didn't like their employee using my phone number in this way. The woman who answered the phone said "oh god, not again. I'll have a word with him". Made me feel both better and worse!
If I were you I'd drop a line to deliveroo, and delete and block him off facebook.

You really shouldn't have accepted a FB friend request from a complete stranger just because they are from the same area.

Better check your provacy settings too, or have someone who understands FB do it for you.

movinonup very true!

Although a sexy stalker is still a stalker!

I haven't clicked on links posted above, but presume at least one will be the woman on Twitter who posted yesterday after being contacted by a delivery driver from Just Eat via her phone (after he delivered her meal). Just Eat were not interested at all. It's a breach of data protection laws and should be reported to the IC in my view. This is becoming more and more common and is not OK.

Reply and tell him you're married/with a partner ... block him in a couple of days if you're worried

I can’t believe it was on tv and radio (and on here) today and I’ve missed it all!!

Totally understand re. accepting people on Facebook that you don’t know. It’s just that it very rarely happens to me so I thought it “must be” someone I know. Obviously not.

IME it really wouldn't have taken much to find you on fb as he knew your name.

If I randomly type in 'Samantha Jones' in FB search, I'll first get the Samantha Jones's living in my town...so under your name, presuming he's from the same ish area as you, you'd have been one of the first results. Then a quick scroll till he recognises your picture. It could feasibly have taken him 30 seconds.

I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with it...the message is decent enough, not like he's asked for a quick shag or commented on your tits or anything actually offensive.

I think some on here seem over keen to demonise any bloke that dares to approach a woman tbh. I mean, in rl, how many people meet at work? Yet on here, someone posts that their desk neighbour Joe asked them out in the office and there'll be a string of responses probably demonising him for being unprofessional and inappropriate in the workplace.

I would report this to Deliveroo as it's cheeky at best and bloody weird at worst. It's extremely unprofessional for someone to use details gained through their employment for personal reasons.