Guelph man loses $3,600 to taxi scam

A person hands a debit card to another person sitting inside a vehicle in this undated file image.

A man’s altruism has cost him thousands of dollars.

The man in his 80s told the Guelph Police Service he was in a plaza near Eramosa Road and Stevenson Street North around 5 p.m. Monday when he was approached by a young woman who said she needed help paying for a taxi ride.

The man was told the taxi driver would not accept the woman’s cash and, if he agreed to pay her fare, she would give him $20. He used his debit card to make the payment.

Later, the man discovered he had been given someone’s else’s debit card and the suspects had kept his. Approximately $3,600 in withdrawals and purchases were made using his stolen card.

The suspect was described as a 5’7” white female in her late teens or early 20s with black hair.

The “taxi driver” was a white man in his 30s with a heavy build. He was driving a dark-coloured vehicle.