A woman visiting Toronto from London, Ont. last month said she nearly lost $7,500 after using her debit card to pay for a $7 taxi ride.
“It was terrible. It was horrific. It made me wonder if I would ever take a taxi again,” LeAnne Beauchemin told CTV News Toronto.
Beacuhemin said she was visiting Toronto with friends to see the sold-out show, “The Tina Turner Musical.” After the performance ended around 11 p.m., she said they searched for a taxi to take them to Union Station.
“There was a black sedan parked right there, and it on it’s roof it said taxi,” said Beauchemin.
After a short ride, Beacuhamin said the driver wouldn’t accept cash.
“The fare came to just $7, and I handed him a $10 bill, but he wouldn’t accept it and said, ‘No cash, just debit,'” said Beauchemin.
Reluctantly, she paid with her debit card and thought everything was fine until the following day when she went to use her card again and saw it had been switched, and there were multiple fraudulent charges on her account — a total of $7,485.
“I would really like the bank to honour this fraud because this is a taxi scam fraud and we are victims here,” said Beauchemin.
The Canadian Taxi Association (CTA) said there has been an increase in taxi scams, and it partly blames the sale of generic taxi signs on websites like Amazon.
The president of the CTA, Marc Andre Way, said that anyone can affix one to their car and pretend to be a taxi driver.
Way said a sure red flag it is a scam is when a taxi driver won’t accept cash.
“Taxi drivers want cash and accept cash, and they prefer to get cash throughout the day,” said Way.
Way said he contacted Amazon and asked the company to cease selling these taxi signs for public safety reasons, but Amazon said it is legal to sell them.
It’s why, before entering a cab, Way said to take the time to ensure it’s a legitimate, properly licenced taxi.
“When you’re looking at a taxi, look for branding, look for a plate on the back of the car, look for a number on the side of the car whether on the right fender or the rear fender,” said Way.
A spokesperson for the Bank of Montreal, where Beauchemin banks, confirmed to CTV News Toronto that she would be getting her money back.
“We immediately reviewed this matter after our customer was in contact with us, and it has now been resolved as part of our regular process,” the spokesperson said.
Another prevalent taxi-related scam in Toronto is when a fraudster approaches someone asking for help to pay for their taxi since the driver wouldn’t accept cash, offering cash in exchange for using their debit card to complete the transaction.