Security
Toronto taxis defraud passengers in debit scam, say police
September 30, 2020
Toronto police is issuing a public safety alert after several residents fell victim to taxi fraud scams, according to a Toronto.com report.
According to investigators, the fraud has been going across the greater Toronto area for at least a year, and police estimate there have been hundreds of victims at a cost of more than $1 million.
During the pandemic there were few to no complaints of the scams, apparently since travel was at a record low. However, now that Canada is moving forward from the pandemic lockdown, the scam appear to have resurfaced, according to the news report.
The scam is run once the driver arrives at a customer's destination. The driver insists customers pay their fare with a debit card instead of a credit card or cash. The driver allegedly makes excuses like not having change or not accepting credit card payment to ensure this happens, said police. The driver then allegedly provides the customer with a portable counterfeit debit machine, which records their PIN. After the transaction, the driver reportedly swaps the passenger's card with another card from the same financial institution leaving the driver with the victim's debit card and PIN.
Police stressed that cab companies are not directly involved in the scam and have cooperated with the investigation.
