A brazen and elaborate scam is taking place on the streets of Toronto that involves fake taxis, a stolen car and sleight of hand to swap out debit cards.
The scheme recently came to light 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 was a Beck taxi with its light on. The car was outfitted with vinyl barriers between the passengers’ seats and the front seats, to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Lautens says the driver was very chatty.
The driver has to be charming otherwise they won’t be successful.
“We talked about everything from him getting his new snow tires to the Russian prisoner exchange swap to the joys of picking up drunk people from the entertainment district,” he tells Yahoo Canada News.
When they arrived to Lautens’ home, he noticed the meter was about a dollar less than what was the usual price. When he tried to pay the driver with cash, the driver told him he only takes cards. When Laurens tried to pay with a credit card, the machine appeared to have a connection error. The driver told him he’d take a look, took the card and the payment machine, then asked if Lautens had a debit card.
“As he’s fiddling on the same machine with the debit card…I noticed the windows were deeply tinted,” he says. “His driver’s…
