Toronto Police Issued A Warning About A Taxi Scam & Here's What You Should Watch Out For

Toronto police are warning the public about a taxi scam in which people's bank cards are being stolen.

Police issued the warning about the evolving scam on Tuesday and also highlighted that taxi scams have resulted in over $40,000 in losses in less than a year.

Why you should care: Officials say in this new taxi scam a scammer will allegedly approach "unsuspecting victims" walking by a taxi.

The scammer will then explain to the victim that the taxi driver, who is also part of the scam, will not accept cash and the victim will be offered cash as long as they pay by debit or credit card.

That's when the scammer will skim the victim's card or swap their card with a similar-looking one. Once they have the victim's card, the scammers make "fraudulent withdraws or purchases," according to police.

What they're saying: Toronto police are looking for Steven Chambers, 25, from Brampton, who has been identified as a suspect in several of the incidents.

Chambers is wanted for fraud over $5,000, attempted fraud under $5,000, three counts of assault and two counts of failing to comply with a release order.

Police have received over 60 reports of varying taxi scams totalling over $40,000 in losses since June 2023, according to the press release.

They are reminding people to be vigilant when using any form of public transportation in which they need to pay with debit or credit cards.

Anyone with information about the taxi scam is asked to contact police at 416-808-7305 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.

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