Toronto Police Arrest 14-Year-Old Boy In Viral TikTok Taxi Scam & Are Warning The Public

If a young teen comes up to you and asks for help paying for their taxi ride, you may want to be careful before jumping in to save the day.

Toronto Police Service (TPS) announced in a press release on October 19 that they have arrested a 14-year-old boy in an ongoing investigation into a taxi scam – which recently went viral on TikTok.

Here's how the scam works, according to TPS:

A car that looks like a taxi will park in a busy area like a mall parking lot, with two suspects pretending to be a driver and a customer fighting over the use of cash as payment due to COVID-19.

An unknowing victim then steps in to help to pay for their ride on credit or debit in exchange for cash.

While the victim is distracted during the transaction, the driver swaps out their card for another card after it has been inserted into a "modified point of sale terminal," which records their pin and card data.

Once the suspects have your card pin and data, you might see some fraudulent transactions coming through on your card.

On October 17, TPS were called to a mall parking lot near Markham Road and Lawrence Avenue East after someone witnessed a similar incident.

Police went to the area and located the vehicle and a 14-year-old boy who was arrested and charged with Possession of Property Obtained by Crime over $5000.

GTA taxi scam blasted on TikTok

TikToker Saja Kilani recently told Narcity how a teen boy lured her into a taxi scam in Yorkville, where she almost lost her debit card.

In her viral TikTok warning people in the GTA, she says the boy asked her to pay for his fare since the driver only took card, not cash.

Luckily she caught on to the scam when she spotted the driver had swapped her debit card out for a different one during the transaction and demanded the driver give it back.

"I was about to get angry, and he realized, so he was like, 'Ok, ok, this is kind of a prank,' and he gives my card back," Kilani told Narcity.

TPS is advising the public to "be vigilant when using any type of public transport that results in debit or credit card transactions."

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.