Latest news with #taxiscam
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
11 charged in Toronto taxi scam that allegedly defrauded customers of over $500K
Eleven people have been arrested and charged after a Toronto police investigation into a taxi scam that allegedly defrauded more than $500,000 from unsuspecting customers over 10 months. The 11, accused of being part of a criminal network that exploited members of the public, face 108 charges. At a news conference on Thursday, police said the investigation called Project Fare began last July after police received multiple reports by victims of the taxi scam. Initially, police identified 61 incidents of fraud, but that number quickly grew to more than 300. Det. David Coffey, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, told reporters that the suspects masqueraded as taxi drivers using vehicles that were modified to look like licensed cabs. Coffey said unsuspecting customers got into what they thought were legitimate taxi cabs only to find out that they were scammed after they paid their fares. "Unsuspecting victims were picked up and asked to pay for the ride using a credit or debit card. During the transaction, the suspects discreetly swapped the victim's card with a card that looked like theirs. The real card and their PIN is then passed on to accomplices," Coffey said. "These fraudsters used the stolen cards and PINs to withdraw funds from ATMs, deposit fraudulent checks to artificially inflate account balances and make high value purchases, including electronics, gift cards and luxury clothing." At the news conference, police displayed some of the items that the fraudsters purchased and that police seized during the investigation. On May 21, members of the police's financial crimes unit, with help from officers from various divisions, carried out three search warrants at addresses linked to the accused. Police made arrests and seized several point-of-sale terminals, high end clothing, electronics, artwork, several bank cards and vehicles resembling taxis. The suspects include 10 men and one woman from the Greater Toronto Area, ranging from 19 to 50 years old. The charges include fraud over $5,000 and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000. Police said they are still looking for two male suspects and a female considered a person of interest in the case. News of arrests brings relief to cab company Kristine Hubbard, operations manager for Beck Taxi, said after the news conference that she is relieved that police have laid charges. "I'm just really relieved to know that this was taken seriously and that it's been dealt with," Hubbard said. "When someone defrauds or engages in criminal activity in the name of legitimate services, it's pretty heartbreaking and it's pretty defeating." Hubbard said she has advice for customers. "Nobody's saying no to cash. That's number one. And if someone has a point of sale terminal, it can't accept debit and not credit, right? So our debit terminals or point of sale terminals are clearly branded," she said. "They have the Beck branding on them and they take debit and credit. If somehow a massive cell outage happens, obviously that's affecting the whole city, that might be the case where there's no debit and no credit, but there's never one and not the other." Also, she said customers should never let their debit cards out of sight and it should not leave their hands. Customers should also look for a brand that they trust and look at vehicle numbers to identify legitimate taxis, she said.
CBC
16 hours ago
- CBC
11 charged in Toronto taxi scam that allegedly defrauded customers of over $500K
Eleven people have been arrested and charged after a Toronto police investigation into a taxi scam that allegedly defrauded more than $500,000 from unsuspecting customers over 10 months. The 11, accused of being part of a criminal network that exploited members of the public, face 108 charges. At a news conference on Thursday, police said the investigation called Project Fare began last July after police received multiple reports by victims of the taxi scam. Initially, police identified 61 incidents of fraud, but that number quickly grew to more than 300. Det. David Coffey, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, told reporters that the suspects masqueraded as taxi drivers using vehicles that were modified to look like licensed cabs. Coffey said unsuspecting customers got into what they thought were legitimate taxi cabs only to find out that they were scammed after they paid their fares. "Unsuspecting victims were picked up and asked to pay for the ride using a credit or debit card. During the transaction, the suspects discreetly swapped the victim's card with a card that looked like theirs. The real card and their PIN is then passed on to accomplices," Coffey said. "These fraudsters used the stolen cards and PINs to withdraw funds from ATMs, deposit fraudulent checks to artificially inflate account balances and make high value purchases, including electronics, gift cards and luxury clothing." At the news conference, police displayed some of the items that the fraudsters purchased and that police seized during the investigation. On May 21, members of the police's financial crimes unit, with help from officers from various divisions, carried out three search warrants at addresses linked to the accused. Police made arrests and seized several point-of-sale terminals, high end clothing, electronics, artwork, several bank cards and vehicles resembling taxis. The suspects include 10 men and one woman from the Greater Toronto Area, ranging from 19 to 50 years old. The charges include fraud over $5,000 and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000. Police said they are still looking for two male suspects and a female considered a person of interest in the case. News of arrests brings relief to cab company Kristine Hubbard, operations manager for Beck Taxi, said after the news conference that she is relieved that police have laid charges. "I'm just really relieved to know that this was taken seriously and that it's been dealt with," Hubbard said. "When someone defrauds or engages in criminal activity in the name of legitimate services, it's pretty heartbreaking and it's pretty defeating." Hubbard said she has advice for customers. "Nobody's saying no to cash. That's number one. And if someone has a point of sale terminal, it can't accept debit and not credit, right? So our debit terminals or point of sale terminals are clearly branded," she said. "They have the Beck branding on them and they take debit and credit. If somehow a massive cell outage happens, obviously that's affecting the whole city, that might be the case where there's no debit and no credit, but there's never one and not the other." Also, she said customers should never let their debit cards out of sight and it should not leave their hands.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Toronto police charge 11 suspects in taxi scam investigation
Toronto police say 11 people face more than 100 criminal charges after an investigation into a taxi scam targeting unsuspecting victims in the city. Police say the investigation dubbed Project Fare began in July 2024 after victims reported being scammed by people posing as taxi drivers in vehicles modified to resemble licensed cabs. Det. David Coffey says victims picked up by the fake taxis were asked to pay their fare using credit or debit cards. He says the suspects would swap the victim's card with a similar-looking one, and keep the real card before passing it to other suspects who withdrew cash, deposited fraudulent cheques to inflate account balances, and purchased expensive items. Police say they initially identified 61 linked incidents and that number rose to more than 300 by the end of the investigation, with total losses to victims exceeding $500,000. They say investigators executed three search warrants and seized multiple point-of-sale terminals, high-end clothing, electronics, artwork, numerous bank cards, and vehicles resembling taxis. Ten men and one woman from the Greater Toronto Area, whose ages range between 19 and 50, were arrested and charged with a total of 108 offences including fraud over $5,000 and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000. Police say they are still looking for two male suspects and a female considered a person of interest in the case. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. The Canadian Press
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Hundreds of people defrauded in Toronto ‘taxi scam,' police say
There are currently no events scheduled on LIVE4. Check back soon to watch live events from across Canada and the world. Toronto police say hundreds of people were defrauded out of more than half a million dollars as part of a large-scale 'taxi scam' in the city. Det. David Coffey told reporters Thursday that 11 people have now been arrested following a 10-month fraud investigation, dubbed Project Fare. At a news conference at Toronto police headquarters, Coffey said investigators uncovered a 'criminal network' that was operating a well-known scheme where suspects pose as taxi drivers and ask customers to pay for the ride using a credit or debit card. 'During the transaction, the suspects discreetly swapped the victim's card with a card that looked like theirs,' Coffey said. 'The real card and their pin is then passed on to accomplices. These fraudsters used the stolen cards and pins to withdraw funds from ATMS, deposit fraudulent cheques to artificially inflate account balances and make high-value purchases, including electronics, gift cards, and luxury clothing.' In total, the suspects are facing a combined 108 charges, the detective added. Coffey noted that while this scheme is not a new phenomenon in the city, this particular investigation began in July 2024 after police received multiple reports from members of the public who had been victims of the scam. Over the course of the investigation, police identified more than 300 victims and Coffey said detectives believe there are more who have not yet come forward. The suspects, police allege, defrauded victims out more than $500,000. Coffey said some individual victims lost thousands of dollars before they discovered the fraud. Three search warrants were executed in connection with the investigation on May 21. During the searches, police seized multiple handheld credit and debit terminals, high-end luxury clothing and jewelry, computers, mobile phones, artwork, and various credit and debit cards, he said. Two suspects remain outstanding, Coffey said, and investigators are also looking to speak to a female who police believe may have information about one of the suspects that has not yet been apprehended. Coffey was quick to note that the investigation is 'not an indictment of the legitimate taxi industry.' 'The individuals involved in this scheme deliberately deceived their victims into believing that they were legitimate taxi drivers,' he said. 'Licensed professional taxi operators across Toronto continue to provide an essential transportation service for many residents in our service.' He said the perpetrators went to great lengths to make the vehicles they were driving resembled legitimate taxis, noting that some of the vehicles were previously used as real taxis. Coffey said the suspects targeted areas often frequented by tourists, particularly in the evenings as people exited shows in the theatre district or came out of bars in the city's King West neighbourhood. 'They are looking for particular victims that they think they can dupe,' Coffey said. 'These people know when to hit. They know when there is going to be a surplus of potential customers.'
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Furious British women expose Moroccan cab driver's scam on camera as he rips them off - now his audacious con has become a national scandal
A Moroccan taxi driver who tried to rip off a pair of British tourists was called out for his audacious scam, with video of the row sparking a national scandal in the country. Two women who were travelling in the popular coastal city of Agadir filmed the moment the cabbie challenged them over how much they paid him. The man accuses the holidaymakers of not handing over the full fare for their trip, repeatedly counting and showing them the cash they gave him. However footage shows how he has hidden a 200 dirham (£15) note beneath his vehicle, seemingly hoping the women wouldn't notice. He repeatedly demands the women give him more cash, getting more irate as they refuse and insist he has already charged them too much. 'Do not come near me! Give me the money,' one woman says as she demands he give back some of the cash. 'We're going to tell the police that you're robbing us, you're stealing money,' the other then says repeatedly. He starts trying to convince them to hand him another bank note, at which point the woman points out he has hidden some of their cash beneath the car. The woman's friend tries to give him a smaller note in exchange for some of their money back, but she warns her that he will drive off with all the cash if she does. Grabbing the note off the floor, the driver then jumps into his car to drive away as the women continue to hurl insults at him. 'F***ing weirdo,' one of the disgusted women calls the man as he continues to berate them from the driver's seat, pointing and yelling. The taxi driver has since been arrested on suspicion of fraud and a breach of trust, according to Moroccan media. Authorities in the country are said to have reviewed the video and taken complaints from the two women, who reportedly said he charged them more than the set fare. The clip has made TV news headlines in Morocco, triggering a debate about the safety and regulation around private hire cabs. It appeared after footage of a separate incident involving a taxi driver caused outrage in Agadir last week. Video shared widely on social media shows the unnamed driver attacking two women in the street in the early hours of Friday morning. The man, reported to be in his 40s, was arrested that evening as he attempted to flee the city. Locals are reported to have reacted furiously to both videos, with many claiming that it damages Morocco's image as a global tourist destination and demanding tighter regulation. There have been calls in Morocco for more ride-hailing apps instead of private taxi firms to help reduce assaults and scams carried out by unscrupulous drivers. It comes after two British tourists died last month when their vehicle overturned on a busy road in Agadir. The driver and two other British tourists with them were hurt during the incident in the port city of Agadir, sustaining injuries of 'varying severity', according to local media. Emergency services, as well as security and civil defence personnel, arrived at the scene on Resistance Street to provide first aid. The casualties were taken to a nearby hospital in the city on Sunday. Their condition was unclear this morning. Security services have now launched a full investigation to understand what caused the car to roll onto its roof. Agadir is a major city and popular tourist destination on the southern Atlantic coast, south west of Marrakech and Casablanca. The former Portuguese trade hub today flourishes as a destination for tourists, welcoming visitors to its pristine beaches and local history. The 1934 film Le Grand Jeu was filmed there.
