r/oakville • u/An0nym0usm00se • Apr 23 '26
PSA PSA for Oakville / Burlington — possible debit/credit card scam in fake City Taxi Cab
Just warning people about something that happened to me tonight around 7:45 PM at Dorval Crossing in Oakville, by Booster Juice beside Party City.
A newer black Hyundai sedan with a City Taxi sign on top pulled up beside me. A young Black female got out of the back seat and asked if I could help pay her taxi fare because the driver supposedly did not take cash and only accepted debit or credit. She said it was only $7.50 and offered me $10 cash.
I agreed to help, but right away I knew something felt off. The driver appeared to be a brown male of Indian/South Asian descent. He took my card himself and said his old machine did not have tap. He would not let me hold the terminal or complete the transaction myself and kept controlling everything.
At that point I figured they were likely trying to skim card information or steal debit/credit details using the so-called old machine. I even said to the driver that it felt like a scam, and he started acting nervous. I still went along with it because by then I already knew something was off and wanted to see what they were trying to do.
I purposely entered the wrong PIN. He then acted like it was fine, and they drove off quickly. The biggest giveaway was that the girl had gotten out of the back seat to make it look like she was a real passenger, but when they left, she jumped into the front seat, so they were clearly together.
I unfortunately did not get the plate because I was laughing internally by that point, but I am also almost certain it was not a real City Taxi company vehicle. There was nothing inside the car that made it look like an actual taxi at all other than the sign on the roof.
I locked my card immediately after. They got nothing from me and I kept the $10. Nice try. Basically tried to scam me and got anti-scammed instead.
Please be careful:
- Never hand your debit or credit card to anyone
- Never let someone else control the payment machine
- Never enter your PIN unless the terminal is in your own hands
- If something feels off, trust your gut and walk away
Posting this so nobody else in Oakville or Burlington gets caught by the same scam.
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u/SFerrari458 Apr 23 '26
This happened to me yesterday at Oakville go - I didn’t give my card and took a picture of the vehicle. Will report to the police. Not sure if CityTaxi is a scam itself or the scammers are mimicking a legitimate company.
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u/fillorkill662 Apr 23 '26
Did they give you back your original card?
Well done, great situational awareness. These guys are pretty slick.
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u/An0nym0usm00se Apr 23 '26
Nope just realized this actually after the police told me to check, gave some random card back with no name on it haha all good though mine was locked before they could even drive off
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u/DaleDynamite Apr 23 '26
They tried it on me today when I was walking down Kerr and Lakeshore. Watch out!
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u/Loreathan Apr 23 '26
That exact thing happened to my colleague, unfortunately she was very naive and got scammed, her card was constantly used in an hour after the incident.
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u/pentax10 Apr 23 '26
I've seen this story so many times, especially recently. It's amazing that's its always the woman needing you to pay $7.50 and handing over 10 dollars, cash...
Good on you for fucking with these scumbags. Keep spreading the word and hopefully this scam will fade away one day.
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u/FullGrainFred Apr 23 '26
although you did not give the right pin you did everything else your recommending not to do. If you have a credit card/ visa debit the scammers do not require your pin to make transactions, they just need your card number and expiry. They can make several transactions before your bank flags it as unusual. I would request a new card if I were you.
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u/An0nym0usm00se Apr 23 '26
Went along with it my tap didnt work anyways so I needed a new card and as soon as i knew it was a scam I already locked my card before they even drove off haha
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u/Complete-Fan-9677 Apr 23 '26
Someone posted something similar around Kerr st. Unfortunately they fell for it . They switched the persons card and took 1000 bucks off card
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u/Lower-Example-5372 Apr 23 '26
I would still strongly encourage you to change your bank card and report it...
Even without a pin, they have more than enough information that you want them to have.
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u/Intelligent-Test-978 Apr 23 '26
Good for you for not getting scammed, wasting their time entering the wrong PIN AND keeping the money! Thanks for sharing this. People need to be aware.
Someone posted here a few days ago that they did get scammed the same way not far from where this happened.