A brazen and elaborate scam is taking place on the streets of Toronto that involves fake taxis, a stolen car and a sleight of hand to exchange debit cards.
The scheme was recently exposed when Toronto writer Stephen Lautens shared his experience on Twitter in hopes of warning others.
In an interview with Yahoo Canada News, Lautens explains that he was leaving a holiday party in Toronto’s business district last Friday when he and his wife hailed what they believed to be a Beck taxi with its light on. The car was equipped with vinyl barriers between the passenger seats and the front seats, to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Lautens says the driver was very talkative.
The driver must be charming otherwise they will not succeed.
“We talked about everything from buying his new snow tires to exchanging Russian prisoners to the joys of picking up drunk people from the entertainment district,” he says. Yahoo Canada News.
When they arrived at Lautens’ home, he noticed that the meter was about a dollar less than the usual price. When he tried to pay the driver in cash, the driver told him he only accepted cards. When Laurens tried to pay with a credit card, the machine appeared to have a connection error. The driver told him he would take a look, took the card and the payment machine, then asked if Lautens had a debit card.
“While playing on the same machine with the debit card…I noticed the windows were deeply tinted,” he says. “His driver’s license was displayed on the back of the car seat. It had the speedometer, the little round emergency light, it had the Beck number on it, and a City of Toronto taxi plate. It was a perfect replica of a Beck taxi.
When his credit card was returned, Lautens noticed that it was not his. The driver told him that people leave wallets in his cab all the time, so he had to mix it all up, then returned his card.
After swiping his debit card, Lautens received a receipt and left the car. It wasn’t until he got home that he noticed the debit card wasn’t his.
“I immediately went to my laptop and locked all my cards,” he says.
“They hope you had a few drinks”
Then Lautens called Beck Taxi. When he gave them the taxi’s three-digit number, which Lautens remembered to write down, they told him the taxi didn’t exist. They were able to look up the time and route of the trip he had just made, and using GPS, Beck confirmed that there were no taxis in that area at the time.
Lautens left a message for the police and received a response a day later by email. They told him they were investigating. When he mentioned he had someone else’s debit card, Lautens learned that this person had lost $1,500 in a similar scam.
“What they do is pick people up late at night, they hope you’ve had a few drinks, it’s dark out back, you think it’s a Beck taxi, so your guard is down” , he said. “The driver must be charming otherwise he will not succeed. Trading cards is like a magician doing card tricks, where you don’t really watch the magic closely.
In the end, Lautens considers himself lucky because he managed to lock his accounts in time so as not to lose any money, and ended up going home for free since the payment terminal was a dummy.
Beck Taxi’s car was stolen from the driver months ago
Kristine Hubbard, operations manager at Beck Taxi, explains that there is more to the story. In October, a Beck taxi was stolen from a driver. Although this was reported to the police and permits and standards, a new license with the same number has since been issued to the driver who had his car stolen.
“Now there are two identical taxis driving around the city,” she said. “One that’s legit and that no one thought would still be used the way it’s used now. But it’s a stolen vehicle and the city and Toronto police were notified months ago. “
She says there are a few things to note if customers want to avoid such a situation.
“No taxi driver will refuse cash,” she says. “It’s not the policy of any company or taxi driver.”
Hubbard also suggests ordering taxis through the Beck app. This way you can connect with legitimate professionally owned vehicles and pay in the app or in the car. It allows you to track the car, as well as the driver’s number and name.
She also insists on never losing sight of your debit card when paying for a taxi.
“Don’t give it to another person,” she said. “The driver has to pass the POS terminal again and you still have to enter the PIN for you to hand, inserting these details.”
Toronto police share tips for avoiding scams
Toronto police said they are aware of the scam and are warning the public to be vigilant when using any type of public transit that involves debit or credit card transactions.
They offer the following tips:
– Do not leave your debit or credit card unattended inside a point of sale terminal anywhere and anytime;
– Be aware of taxi numbers and company names when using their services;
– Be aware of the driver’s identification which is displayed to the customer in plain view at the rear of the cabin;
– Do not make payments for a stranger, using your personal card, in exchange for cash;
– Inspect your card after each transaction and make sure it is your card;
– Cover your fingers when entering your PIN.
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