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Richmond RCMP warns of fraud involving fake taxis, fake driver and fake passenger.
A scam that police warned people in the Toronto area a few months ago has arrived in British Columbia
The Richmond RCMP has issued a debit card fraud alert, including fake taxis, fake driver and fake passenger.
Since April 22, there have been four reports of a complex scam that was downloaded to people in busy parking lots.
A young man approaches and asks for help to pay for his taxi because he doesn’t have enough money. The fake taxi driver then claims that he does not accept credit cards, only debit cards, and when the unsuspecting victim goes to pay by crane, he claims that the crane function does not work.
When the good Samaritan hands over his debit card for processing, the driver and his accomplice distract them and the driver returns a fake card. Until then, he had collected the PIN number for the victim’s real card, and only later did the unsuspecting sign realize that the criminals had amassed several purchases, adding hundreds of dollars.
Corporal Ian Henderson of the Richmond RCMP said: “This scam seems to be new to the city of Richmond, but we have already had seven victims report to the police in the last few days. Our frontline and economic crime investigators are working hard to identify and locate the suspects. In the meantime, we believe we need to warn the public about this fraudulent activity. “
The fake taxi is described as a white Toyota Camry with a white taxi sign on top. The fake taxi driver was described as a man from Fiji or South Asia in the early 1920s, while his accomplice was described as a man from the Middle East in the early 1920s.
As early as February, York’s regional police also issued a warning about the same thing happening in the Toronto area.
WARRANT WARNING ABOUT TAX FRAUD – Investigators want to inform citizens about ongoing taxi fraud in the York region. https://t.co/Xhnzr4MTOx
– York Regional Police (@YRP) February 3, 2022
Anyone with information about the fraud is asked to contact Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212, citing file number 2202-10686. If you want to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or visit them online at solvecrime.ca
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