They cracked a fraud ring run by cabbies accused of ripping off more than 200 of their unsuspecting fares of more than $2 million.

Two Peel Regional Police officers are being recognized by their peers for shattering a ‘Bait and Switch’ scam operated by area taxi drivers.

The officers were presented with an Investigative Partnership of the Year Award 2000 by the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators for their outstanding work in an investigative project called ‘Switch.’

The lead investigators, who work undercover and are not identified, are both members of the force’s Fraud Bureau Credit Card and Organized Crime team.

The undercover project involved Peel and Toronto Police and various financial institutions.

Police said individuals posing as legitimate taxi drivers would defraud unsuspecting victims using a point of sale terminal designed to capture the victim’s PIN number.

“After the victim entered their PIN, the taxi driver would return a previously exploited debit card to the victim,” police said. It was “usually under the cover of darkness so the victim would not notice.”

Officers said “soon after” the taxi driver or accomplices would deplete the funds in the victim’s bank account.

“Victims often would not discover the switch until they attempted to use card later,” police said.

Detectives said these fraudsters were pretty good.

More than 200 people were allegedly defrauded of more than $2.1 million by the cabbies between January 2019 and March 2020, police said in a release.

Police arrested five culprits and laid 48 criminal charges, which included offences of fraud under $5,000, possession of credit card data and possession of property obtained by crime.

The officers were recognized for their dedication, thoroughness and collaboration in the field of financial crimes in a private event last month.