UM weighs legal action after university name used to trick social enterprise PichaEats
KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Universiti Malaya (UM) said today it was considering legal action over the misuse of its trademark to place a fictitious 500-person catering order with social enterprise PichaEats.
In a statement, UM acknowledged receiving complaints from the media and public over a public service announcement (PSA) circulating online and linking the university to the hoax order.
“UM would like to confirm that there is no such offer issued to the affected vendor.
“The documents sighted in the aforementioned PSA posting are also inconsistent with features present on UM-issued contract offer letters.
“UM views the purported deceitful attempt seriously which has not only misused our trademark but also affected our image including the maltreatment of the affected victim,” it said.
The university said it is considering measures including lodging a police report and taking legal action.
It also clarified that official orders from the university would be done via its UM Procurement and Payment Management system. In the PichaEats incident, the order was placed with a text messaging app.
It also said parties could verify offers received by forwarding them to the institution’s corporate and communications department at corporate@um.edu.my or call 03-7967 3273.
Expressing sympathy for those affected by the incident, UM advised them to also lodge reports with the police.
On Instagram, PichaEats said it had received an order from “Universiti Malaya” last Wednesday for a 500-pax event that was supposed to take place today after another vendor supposedly pulled out at the last minute.
It shared a picture of the order that also bore the Higher Education Ministry letterhead. PichaEats said it later found out that another catering company underwent a similar experience with a catering order from “Universiti Malaya”, resulting in significant financial losses.
Three hours after sending a public call for help, PichaEats announced it has succeeded in saving the 500-pax meals prepared by its 15 refugee chefs due to overwhelming responses it received for its “emergency sale” that started around 9am.
