GTA police services warn of ongoing, year-long fake taxi scam

Police are warning of recent incidents of a fake taxi scam that’s been doing the rounds in the GTA for almost a year.

The scam involves a fake taxi and suspects working in pairs, preying on the kindness of well-meaning people to steal their debit or credit cards and card information.

Incidents of the scam have been reported as far back as November 2020, with Halton police reissuing a warning this month, after three occurrences in Oakville less than two weeks ago.

How it works

Police services across the GTA describe a similar pattern being followed in the reported incidents:

• The scam involves two suspects – one who acts like a taxi driver and another who acts like a customer
• The taxi driver refuses to accept cash fare from the customer and the customer flags down people nearby for help
• People are asked to use their debit cards to pay for the fare in exchange for cash, which is given to the victim at the time
• When the victim uses their debit card in the debit machine handed to them by the taxi driver, the scammers obtain the person’s PIN as they punch it in
• The victim is then distracted by the scammer pretending to be a customer, meanwhile the driver switches the debit cards — keeping the victim’s card and giving them a different one back.
• The stolen debit card is then used to withdraw money or make purchases

Scamming the GTA

Apart from Halton police, Durham police also issued a warning about the same scam in December of last year and Toronto and Peel police did the same in early 2021.

York region police arrested three suspects for defrauding people out of $50,000 through this scam in late March and recovered 21 stolen credit cards, a falsified debit terminal and a victim’s identification which was returned.

Ayaaz Nathalia, 32, of Bowmanville, Usman Gadeer Butt, 19, of Toronto and Saeed Ahtsham, 26, of Toronto were all charged with multiple counts of fraud and possession of property obtained by crime.

However Halton police Const. Ryan Anderson says it’s likely not the same suspects in all the incidents.

“This is not something that is one specific set of suspects,” he told CityNews. “This is something we’ve seen ongoing with more than one or two suspects.”

Const. Anderson adds the suspects usually prey on people in the parking lots of shopping centres or plazas at any time of the day or night.

“It may take a few people for them to approach for it to work, but unfortunately it’s worked a few times,” he said.

No suspect descriptions are available, but Const. Anderson says the vehicle involved in the Oakville incidents is a sedan with a white sign on the roof that says “taxi.”

Protecting yourself and next steps

Const. Anderson says last year, the scammers were telling people the taxi driver would not accept cash because of the pandemic. He stresses that this is not the case.

“Taxi’s do and will accept cash,” he said, adding that if someone approaches you saying otherwise, it’s a red flag.

How to protect yourself:

Police are suggesting some common sense tips to ensure you don’t fall victim to a credit or debit card scam.

• Keep your debit or credit card in your possession at all times. Do not hand it over to a vendor and tap if possible
• Conceal your PIN when entering it into the machine
• Stay alert – if you think the card terminal looks suspicious or may have been tampered with in some way, don’t use it and contact police

Next steps if you believe you’ve been a victim of fraud:

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre lists steps to take following an incident where you feel you may have been defrauded.

• Report the incident to your financial institution and have them place flags on all your accounts. Change all your passwords and report the fraud to both credit bureaus – Equifax and TransUnion

• Stay calm and try to recall as much as possible about the incident and gather any documents or emails/texts or receipts as applicable to your case
• Report the incident to police and be sure to get a file number for future reference. If you find any suspicious activity on your credit report in the days or even months following the incident, update your file with police.
• Report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre