Feb. 26, 2021 – The Barrie Police Service Fraud Unit has recently become aware of a scam that has surfaced in our community that involves a taxicab driver and passenger who indicate that due to the COVID -19 pandemic the driver cannot accept cash. This scam has also been reported in other communities over past few weeks and is netting the persons responsible money from the unsuspecting victims.
The scam works like this: an unknown person approaches a victim and is asked if they could assist with paying for a cab fare as the driver does not accept cash due to the COVID -19 pandemic. The victim willingly accepts the cash that would have covered the cab fare and then uses a personal bank card to cover the cost of the ride. After entering the personal identification number (PIN) into a point-of-sale terminal, the driver hands back a fake bank card to the victim, usually after a slight distraction. Barrie Today reports. | READ MORE
