Police from five GTA jurisdictions arrested three Brampton men and a fourth is sought in a fake taxi fraud scheme that scammed more than $37,000 from ‘well intending’ victims.

The motor vehicle involved in these incidents was a decommissioned taxi cab and was not actively owned or operated by any GTA taxi companies, according to police.

Officers from Peel, Toronto, Halton, Hamilton and York were involved in a joint operation that investigated in excess of 35 cases of debit card theft and frauds targeting well-intended citizens, Peel Regional Police said in a release on March 19.

“Despite these challenges, people from our community agreed to help someone else and were victimized for their kindness” said Nick Milinovich, Deputy Chief of Investigative and Emergency Services. “Our police service will continue to work diligently to hold offenders accountable for their actions.”

In most cases, the suspects would pose as the driver of a taxi and a rear seat passenger, and approach the victims at which point the passenger would offer cash in exchange for the victim using their debit card to pay the fare, as the taxi driver would not accept cash due to Covid-19 contact limitations.

The victims would insert their debit card into a point of sale terminal that was modified to capture the victims personal identification number (PIN) number, which was then followed by the taxi driver secretly swapping the victims card with a previously exploited debit card. The suspects would then use the stolen card and PIN to make large cash withdrawals and purchases.

Police said a 17-year-old young offender was charged on March 16 with 44 offences, including fraud and theft under $5,000.

Two other men, aged 20 and 22, were charged with 16 offences. And a warrant has been issued for a fourth man, described as 28-years-old from Brampton.

Investigators believe that there may be more victims as the suspects are believed to have operated the replica taxi across various areas in the GTA, and are encouraging potential victims to contact their local police service.

Anyone with information on this investigation is asked to contact the Fraud Bureau at 905-453–2121, ext. 3335.  Information may also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca.