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German Lawyer Targeted in Endless Pizza Delivery Prank

By George Khoury, Esq. on February 21, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Having a pizza (or ten) delivered to someone unbeknownst to them can be a funny prank, if done in a lighthearted, giving, manner (meaning you pay for the pizza). However, more often than not when pranksters send unwanted deliveries, those deliveries go unpaid, the targets don't really suffer as they don't have to accept the delivery and just had to open a door, and the businesses and delivery drivers bear the brunt of the consequences.

Despite the ineffectiveness of this prank at causing the targets harm, the fake pizza or food delivery order prank continues to get used. And sadly for one German lawyer, some cruel prankster didn't just send one delivery, they sent hundreds. The seemingly endless stream of fake food delivery orders resulted in quite a bit of confusion and quite a bit of lost productivity.

Endless Pizza Won't End Well

The attorney believes that the prank could have been the result of some malicious computer code as the rate of orders minimally suggested some automated help. Though, in all likelihood, it's probably a disgruntled client or vengeful adversary, or one of their children.

While the prankster might think that their attempt at comedy will absolve liability for the fake orders, German law actually criminalizes making fake delivery orders as a form of harassment. Due to the sheer volume of the waste resulting in losses to multiple restaurants, there is a higher likelihood that some individual restaurants will push the investigation and pursue justice to get compensated for their proverbial piece of the pie.

Stopping Endless Pizza

Unfortunately, if you get targeted in an endless food delivery prank, there might not be much you can do to stop it. If you live in an area where there are only a few delivery options, you could call each and warn them. But if you live in an area where there are endless food delivery options, providing a warning to every place probably isn't possible.

Though it may feel like overkill, contacting the police will likely be necessary. And though officers may find this sort of crime to be incredibly petty, it actually results in quite a bit of waste, and causes legitimate consumers to suffer higher prices to offset businesses' direct losses and increased costs to implement systems to avoid losses from fake orders. Also, depending on how the prankster placed the orders, the crimes of identity theft, stalking, or fraud could very well be charged and result in serious consequences.

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