Queen’s campus has become the target of a taxi scam, according to Kingston Police.
Sent out in a media release on March 18, the police are warning the public of a scam taking place on campus and in the surrounding area. Scammers are using two methods to steal from unsuspecting victims.
The first involves the victim being approached by one of the scammers, who claims they need help paying their taxi fare as their card is declined, and that the driver won’t accept cash. They then offer to give the victim cash in exchange for payment of their fare. When the victim offers up the card, it’s then swapped with a similar-looking card and stolen.
The second version similarly asks for help paying their fee, but rather than just swapping the card itself, they put the victim’s card into the point-of-sale terminal and ask the victim to input their PIN number.
“This provides the scammer with information they need to make further charges to the victim’s account and allows the scammer to quickly swap the victim’s card with a similar one,” Kingston police wrote.
Two suspects have been described to the police, including a 25 to 30-year-old South Asian or Middle Eastern descent female, along with a South Asian or Middle Eastern descent male, whose roughly 30 to 40-years-old. Their accompanying vehicle has been described as a grey Mazda SUV, branded with a “Capital Taxi” sign.
The police said they’re advising residents to never pay for a stranger’s taxi with their own credit card. Those who may have been victims of this scam are encouraged to file a report online.
Tags
Kingston Police, scam, Taxi, Taxi scam
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