u/An0nym0usm00se

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.

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.