Good to know. Thanks for posting about the issue.

Yikes!

And I've seen there's another credit card theft scam being used by crooks - placing bogus, malicious QR codes on parking meters.

There are two types of smart cards - Chip and PIN versus Chip and Signature.

Chip and PIN predominate abroad, the Chip and Signature type is by far the most common in the US. I do have a Chip and PIN card for use abroad. When I use it in the US, sellers' card equipment treats it as a Chip and Signature.

The laws may be different in Canada but in the US, cardholders have only limited or often $0 liability for fraudulent charges. Sometimes losses are capped at a nominal amount, sometimes it's zero loss and fully refunded. It may depend on the issuer. I know my cards carry zero risk for fraudulent use.

With this theft approach, there's always a risk when using a card that your own card isn't returned and instead you get a fake one but that's nothing new. PIN stealing is N/A in the US other than for a debit card.

I quit using taxis years ago when I flew into a city that I was unfamiliar with, ride to my hotel from airportwas $50, my return from same hotel to airport a few days later was $12, I tipped that cab driver big for being honest.

Some airports charge taxis a fee for airport pickups. But not for dropoffs.

The same happens with rental cars. There's an airport supplement when you rent a car at the airport. But not when you drop one off. When one has time, it's often much cheaper to rent a car at a non-airport location.

I heard about it on the news. If they asked for my debit card I would just tell them I would prefer to use cash. There are just some places I will not use my debit card like convenience stores or taxi cabs. I tend to pay cash these days when I am not familiar with the business I use. Even when I use an ATM machine I check the machine first like I learned when working for the bank to make sure it hasn't been tampered with and fake readers or cameras I also pay tap and go for small purchases and carry my card in a protective sleeve. I find myself using cash more often

Cherryfizz, you're in Canada, no?

Just a reminder to US readers that the Chip and PIN system and the issue described above remains NORTH of the border in Canada, not in the US.

Edit to add with a smirk:

There are some places where the dancing border has odd results along rivers. As in the Detroit area, where the US is NORTH of the border in some small areas and due WEST of the border in others

You can't hail a cab over here except the licenced black cabs in London. You have to call one. And they all display their licensing plates on the car and inside.

summersrhythm, the hardware the bad guys use to do that is called a "skimmer". It's a small device added by them on the outside of the real equipment, often at gas stations or ATMs, to get your number and, sometimes at ATMs, your PIN.

That's different from what the OP was talking about in starting this thread.

The taxi drivers must keep a file of different colored credit cards on hand. If i handed over a red card and the driver returned a blue card, i would notice. its also possible to get a card with your picture of choice, so idk.

Ive heard of the opposite thing happening. Drivers would rather have cash. There have been incidents where the driver drove the passenger to an ATM and insisted they withdraw cash to pay. However i think this stopped when a driver was charged with kidnapping.

It’s crazy how bold these fake drivers are getting. I’ve heard of similar things happening with ots taxi situations where people thought they were getting into a legit cab but ended up getting scammed instead. It happened to a friend of mine a few months ago after she landed from an international flight. She was tired, hopped into what looked like a normal cab at the airport, but thankfully, she paid close attention to the payment process and noticed the card swap attempt in time. I’ve started to avoid hailing taxis altogether, especially for airport transfers.

Just another reason I like my apple watch...no cr card to handle.

Ya so just drop them cash and get out of the cab!!