Regional police arrest man in connection to taxi scam in Cambridge

Waterloo regional police have arrested and charged a Toronto man in connection to a taxi fraud scam in Cambridge.

On Saturday, police alerted the public on X of an ongoing taxi scam in the region.

“In this scam, a fake passenger approaches the potential victim claiming the taxi driver won’t accept cash as a payment for a fare and asks if the victim can use their own debit card or credit card to pay the fare, with the fraudster offering to reimburse them in cash,” the tweet read.

Police said the fake driver would then swap the victim’s real debit card with a fake one and then give it to the victim.

“Once the victim is gone, the scammers then use the stole debit card and PIN to withdraw funds from the victim’s account.”

At around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a parking lot on Hespeler Road near Sheldon Drive for reports of a taxi scam incident in progress.

As a result of their investigation, regional police arrested and charged a 34-year-old man with fraud under $5,000, theft of credit card and breach of probation.

The investigation remains ongoing and police said additional charges are anticipated.

Details on how you can protect yourself from taxi scams can be found here.