NEWS RELEASE
NIAGARA REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE
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The Niagara Regional Police would like to issue a public safety warning of an ongoing COVID-19 related taxi fraud scam.
This fraud consists of two scammers convincing a victim to use their debit card in order to pay for a fake taxi ride.
The scam starts with two suspects, one posing as a taxi driver, and the other acting as a customer. They pretend to have an argument over the payment method, advising the taxi does not take cash as a way of payment due to COVID-19. This results in the fake customer asking a victim to pay for their taxi ride with a debit card and they will provide the cash in return.
The driver then takes the debit card and uses it as the payment, while the fake customer distracts the victim. The victim then enters her pin, which is recorded and in return handed a different debit card which the victim does not notice.
The debit card is then used by the two suspects until the victim is made aware of the incident.
If you have been a victim of a scam and experienced a financial loss, please call the Niagara Regional Police Service non-emergency number at 905-688-4111 'dispatch' to report it.
If you have been a victim however did not experience a financial loss, please report it by calling Phone Busters at 1-888-495-8501 or contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
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