Toronto taxi scam strikes again in the downtown core

Crooked cab drivers are still swindling passengers in the downtown core.

We first reported on this particular taxi scam in January, when at least 75 passengers were ripped off tens of thousands of dollars after their debit cards had been swapped by their driver and their bank accounts were drained.

The latest victim to contact CityNews was scammed coming home from a nightclub early Saturday morning.

“He took my card and was hunched over in the front seat then handed my card back to me,” said Ryerson student Heather Jennings. The next day when she went to use her debit card, it was declined.

“I went home and looked at my bank account and I saw all these transaction made on my account up to two-thousand dollars,” said Jennings.

Our investigation discovered one cab involved in January had a ‘Royal Taxi’ sign on top, even though that vehicle was not registered to the company.

Heather believes the cab she used had a Beck sign, although she has no proof.

“Unless you wave them down there is no way of knowing who it was, that’s what [Beck] told me,” she said.

CityNews learned Toronto Police’s fraud unit was investigating possible links to the same scam that was recently busted in Montreal but that theory did not pan out.

“It makes me feel so angry that these people aren’t even real. These scammers are going out and taking people’s money. This should stop why is it going on for so long?” Jennings questioned.

A new detective from the fraud unit has recently been assigned to the case. CityNews is being told images of suspects may soon be released if police decide it will help the investigation.