It’s Saturday night and you’ve downloaded a new food delivery app. You’ve scanned the menus, picked some Mexican dishes, placed your order and are now tracking the delivery. But your food never comes – and you never expected it to.

It sounds ridiculous if you’ve never tried it, but this viral trend is more popular than you might think. Just one app alone, FoodNeverComes, claims nearly 1 million “cravings satisfied” to date.

Why would people bother spending time on apps or websites that are built to never deliver? Ultimately, it’s all about getting a dopamine hit.

It sounds like harmless fun, letting users “buy” food, clothes or other products with no real-world cost, since most of these apps are free to use.

But even when an app or website costs you nothing, there are downsides to watch out for – including how your choices can help advertisers better target you in real life.

From South Korea to the world

FoodNeverComes is one example of a free, ad-supported app and website that mimics an online food delivery service. But there are other types too.

For instance, the free, ad-supported Dopamine Shop is a fake online shopping site. There, customers view items – everything from a 99 cent pet rock to a $99 million moon – then fill their carts. But no payment details are requested and no........

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