Taxi driver, accomplice in $400K debit card fraud arrested in Montreal
Police say more than 150 people ripped off by drivers who stole their debit cards, PINs
At about 2:30 in the morning on a Tuesday in early May, Hannah Lazare and her friends were leaving a bar on Crescent Street in downtown Montreal.
Lazare hailed a cab, alone, near the corner of Sherbrooke Street and struck up a conversation with the young, friendly driver.
"I asked right away, 'Can I pay with a card?'" said Lazare. "And he said, 'Yes, sure! Only debit.'
"I didn't think twice about it."
Fifteen minutes later, she was home.
An hour later, she would be almost $3,000 poorer without even knowing it.
Lazare is one of more than 150 suspected victims of a debit fraud scheme that has robbed taxi customers of more than $400,000, according to police.
Now, after months of investigating, Montreal police have arrested two men, aged 30 and 33, following a raid of three homes Wednesday morning, in Montreal and Laval.
Police say the suspects were stealing customers' PINs and debit cards, and swapping them out with someone else's card before draining their bank accounts.
"The amount of fraud per person varies. It could go from tens of dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the client," said Sgt. Laurent Gingras.
One of the suspects appears to have had a taxi licence. The other does not even have a driver's licence.
The two men, who are related, will appear in court Thursday to face more than 20 counts each of theft, fraud and conspiracy.
Gathering evidence
Police say they started receiving a handful of complaints about this type of fraud in July 2014, but only started connecting the dots in January and February this year.
That's when, police say, the suspects started escalating their scheme, stealing from customers almost daily.
"We were able to pinpoint that we were dealing with a couple of suspects, but again, we had a vague description at that point," said Gingras.
He said police did not want to spook the pair and force them underground by alerting the public about the fraud.
"Investigators were working on several leads at that point," he said. "Unfortunately, sometimes investigations take time."
Protect yourself
Police are not looking at other suspects, but Gingras said customers should take caution to avoid being a victim of a similar fraud.
"First of all, if you want to call a taxi, the best way is to call them, not hail them on the street," he said. "If you decide to pay with a card, make sure you keep your eye on the card."
Gingras also suggests putting a sticker or distinguishing mark on your card.
The whole experience has made Lazare question whether she wants to take cabs at all.
"We had a nice conversation, and I sort of like that about living in a city — getting to meet all sorts of different people," said Lazare.
"But to know that that entire time, he was planning on scamming me was just a bit sad and hurtful. I haven't taken a taxi since."