Halton police are warning the public about an early-September taxi payment scam in Oakville and say that similar thefts may occur.
The incident involved a victim and two suspects, one acting as a taxi passenger and the other as the driver.
On Sept. 5 around 9 p.m. a person was approached by a male in the area of Upper Middle Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard.
The male told the victim he needed to pay for a taxi but his debit card was not working. He then asked the person to use their credit card with a promise to e-transfer the funds.
Using a point-of-sale terminal the victim tapped their bank card but was advised by the taxi driver that the tap option did not work.
The victim proceeded to insert their card into the terminal and entered the PIN. The suspects then quickly drove off in possession of the victim’s credit card.
A short time later $3,000 was withdrawn from the victim’s bank account.
The vehicle used in the theft was a black SUV.
The suspect who claimed to be the passenger is a white male and thought to be in his mid-teens, with light-coloured eyes and long brown hair. He was wearing a light-coloured dress shirt and light-coloured khaki pants.
The second suspect who was acting as the taxi driver was a brown male, 20 to 30 years of age with long hair.
Police warn the public that variations of this scam also include requests to pay with cash.
Anyone with information about this incident or similar debit card scams is asked to contact the Halton Police Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905-825-4777, ext. 2216.