Taxi scam alert: Drivers steal credit card details with dodgy EFTPOS machines before withdrawing your money – but there is a simple way to avoid the con
- A taxi scam has swiped up to $1,300 from people’s credit cards
- Using a faulty EFTPOS machine the dodgy cab driver will copy the card
- Travellers have been told to pay close attention to driver’s behaviour
Passengers are being told to be on the lookout for dodgy taxi drivers that have stolen the credit card details of several customers – with some losing as much as $1,300.
The latest scam in Sydney uses a modified EFTPOS machine to copy data from a credit card’s magnetic strip while the driver watches the victim enter their pin so they can withdraw money from an ATM.
A man named Nick is one of the latest victims who said he recently used a taxi and when the time came to pay he was told the EFTPOS machine was broken.
‘I was told the tap chip was broken and I had to insert my card and pin,’ he said in a warning to others online.
The latest scam in Sydney uses a modified EFTPOS machine, such as this one police found in 2014, to copy data from a credit card’s magnetic strip while a the driver watches the victim enter their pin so they can withdraw money from an ATM later
Nick then said he inserted his card and entered the pin after the taxi driver instructed him to.
On Saturday morning his bank sent him a message telling him someone had tried to take $790 out of his account.
Nick said he was lucky and his account was untouched, but he is convinced the driver skimmed his details as he uses the card in question exclusively for taxis.
Amazingly Nick was not even the worst affected with several others having far more money successfully swiped by the thieves.
‘Happened to me also. When so went to pay pass it didn’t work. Had to insert it. Few days later account had $1,000 withdrawn,’ one wrote online.
‘Can confirm, the scumbags skimmed my card last Friday and got away with $1,300 of my hard earned too – Never Again,’ yet another victim said.
‘Had this last week, I got a taxi from airport in the morning, had to swipe card, six hours later someone tried to take $480 from an ATM,’ said another commenter.
People have said they have had up to $1,300 taken from their account by drivers using the scam
Nick Abraham from the NSW taxi Council said there are some simple steps people can take to make sure they are not scammed and to help get their money back if they are.
‘People should remain vigilant whenever using forms of payment other than cash. Always keep the card in sight and in close proximity,’ Mr Abraham said to Yahoo News.
‘Whenever you take a taxi journey try to take as much note of the vehicle and driver details … Because then if you do wake up the next morning with a nasty surprise that helps us with any investigation,’ he said.
However Mr Abraham played down the thefts and said it will not be a problem most people will come across.
‘Broadly speaking if you look at the number of transactions the equivalent rate of skimming or fraudulent activity is extremely low,’ he said.