Toronto police are alerting the public of an evolving taxi scam after receiving dozens of incident reports since June last year, totalling over $40,000 in losses.
In a news release on Tuesday, police warned that unsuspecting victims walking by a taxi have been approached by a scammer claiming the taxi they hailed, which is also part of the scam, does not accept cash.
The scammer will then ask the victim to pay for their ride using their debit or credit card in exchange for their cash. Upon agreement, the victim’s debit or credit card is skimmed or swapped for a similar looking card.
A card is handed back to the victim with cash, and the scammers proceed to make fraudulent withdrawals and transactions using the stolen card, police said.
Since June 2023, Toronto’s Financial Crimes Unit has received over 60 reports of varying taxi scams totalling over $40,000 in stolen funds, police said.
Police have also identified a Brampton man named Steven Chambers, 25, as a suspect in several of these incidents .
Chambers is wanted for Fraud, Attempted Fraud under $5,000, three counts of Assault and two counts of Fail to Comply with a Release Order.
Toronto Police are reminding members of the public to remain vigilant when using any form of public transport that requires payment by credit or debit card, to never make payments for an unknown person, and to check that any card returned to them after payment is theirs.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7305, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.
