Uber driver used to courier debit and credit cards in bank scam

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A woman from Guelph has lost nearly $5,000 after she said she handed cut-up pieces of her debit and credit cards to an Uber driver.

On Thursday night, officers with the Guelph Police Service spoke to a woman in her 60s who said she received a call from someone who claimed to be from her bank’s fraud department. The caller said there had been suspicious transactions on her account.

The woman was told to cut up her debit and credit cards and give them to a courier who could come over to collect them.

A short time later, a man arrived at her home and she gave him an envelope containing the cards.

Officers tracked down the driver and spoke with him. He told them he works for Uber and received a courier order to collect a package and deliver it to Toronto. He said he then met a male in a parking lot who told him he was there to collect the envelope.

After the handoff was complete, the cards were used to withdraw $2,480 from the woman’s account and purchase more than $2,300 in goods.

The investigation is ongoing.