Child used as part of fake taxi scam in Guelph: Police

A child has been used in a fake taxi scam in Guelph, Ont., in at least five separate cases, police say.

On Friday, a man was entering a business on Woodlawn Road W., around 8 p.m. when he was approached by a child between the ages of 11 to 14 who told the man he was trying to pay for a taxi, but the cab driver wouldn't take cash, police said in a release.

The child asked the man to pay his fare by debit and the child would give him cash. The man did so, handing over his debit card to the driver. Only later did the man realize the card he got back was not his own. Police say he contacted his bank and his card had been used to withdraw $3,000.

Police say over the course of the weekend, there were three other reports of a child approaching people asking them to pay for a cab:

• A woman on Saturday around 10:15 p.m. at a business on Woodlawn Road W. The woman discovered she had been given someone else's card quickly and locked her bank account before sustaining any loss.
• Saturday evening a woman reported she was waiting outside a business near Edinburgh Road S. and Stone Road W. when she was asked to pay for a taxi fare. In that case, the woman later discovered $1,500 had been withdrawn from the account.
• A third woman reported a similar interaction Saturday at 9:30 p.m. in a parking lot of a business on Stone Road W. and she later discovered $1,000 was withdrawn from her account.

On Monday, police received a report of a fifth person being scammed in a similar way, also on Saturday night near Stone Road W.

Police say the car involved was described as a white Audi with an orange and white taxi sign on the roof. It may have also had the name of a taxi company on the side of the car.

Scott Tracey is the spokesperson for the Guelph Police Service and says a similar scam involving adults has been reported in the city before, but this is the first time they've had reports of a child being involved.

He said having a child approach people may have meant people let their guard down about this kind of scam.

"Anecdotally speaking, we can assume that if someone is approached by a small child saying that they're having some kind of difficulty and asking for an adults help, that people are maybe more likely to feel sorry for the child and to do what they're being asked rather than, if they were approached by, say, two adult men saying they're having this dispute with the taxi driver," Tracey told CBC News.

Anyone can buy rooftop taxi sign

The Canadian Taxi Association has called for online retailers to stop selling generic taxi light signs in light of police across the country warning of similar scams.

Association president Marc André Way said in a press release on Aug. 14 that young people will approach a person and pretend to be upset to get people to help them.

Way warned people should never give any card to anyone who says a taxi driver won't accept cash because all legitimate taxi drivers are ready to accept cash.

Way wrote a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy saying traditionally, branded roof taxi signs were only available through specialty shops.

"The generic signs being sold through Amazon and other outlets are available to anyone. This is not a safe, practical way to distribute the trusted taxi signs which have become synonymous with physical and consumer safety for over a century," said the letter, which is posted to the association's website.

The U.S.-based company, however, continues to sell the product to all customers and told CBC News in an emailed statement that "these lights are legal to sell in Canada."

Take a moment to consider situation, police say

Similar taxi scams, where drivers have refused to take cash, have been reported in Waterloo region, Sarnia, Toronto, Calgary Montreal and Richmond, B.C.

Tracey said it's important for people to take a moment when approached by a stranger in this situation and really consider what they're being asked to do.

"People can say, 'I'm just going to quickly call the company and make sure that this is legitimate or that this is the actual company policy not to accept cash.' Once you sort of make that suggestion, I suspect if these two are really up to no good, they'll quickly leave the area," he said.

"If there's something about the the interaction, it just doesn't feel right, just do a bit of legwork yourself to try and follow up or just politely decline."

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.