Kingston police would like to warn the public that “fake” taxi/Uber scams have recently been reported in the area and are likely to continue through the holiday season.
Police say this type of crime is generally carried out by scammers utilizing vehicles which look similar to those used by legitimate taxi companies. In many cases, they will use stolen or fake taxi lights and Ontario licence plates.
Often working in pairs, one scammer will pose as the driver while the other pretends to be a passenger. The fake passenger will approach a potential victim claiming to need help as the taxi will not accept cash for a low-value fare. The fake passenger asks the victim to pay for the fare using their own bank card in exchange for the cash. However, when the victim agrees to pay the small fare, their bank card is inserted into a modified point-of-sale terminal which captures the PIN number of that card.
The fake passenger repays the victim in cash, while at the same time swapping the victim’s bank card with either a fake one or that from another victim whose account was already depleted. The scammers then use the stolen card to max out the victim’s bank accounts at local ATM machines and convenience stores. Victims usually do not realize their cards have been switched until several hours later.
