"Be careful": Canadian woman recalls catching debit card scammers in the act (VIDEO)

A gesture of goodwill turned sour for a Toronto woman after catching a debit card scammer in the act.

Actress and model Saja Kilani immediately shared her harrowing experience on TikTok in the hopes that others can avoid a similar situation. “Be careful guys!!!” her captions read.

Kilani said on October 16 she was approached by a 16-year-old boy in a taxi near the Bay and Yorkville area. The boy asked if he could use her debit card to pay for his fare since the driver didn’t accept cash.

@sajakilani Be careful guys!!! #fyp #toronto ♬ original sound – saja

Kilani, wanting to do a nice thing for a stranger, offered to pay with her debit card. In return for her kind gesture, Kilani would be paid out in cash.

In the video, Kilani explained how she spotted the taxi driver fidgeting with the card before giving a fake one back to her.

“I noticed that it doesn’t have my name on it, it says someone else’s. Immediately, I figured out this was a scam,” she said

In an email to Daily Hive, Kilani said while the incident did not traumatize her, it did make her wary of being nice to others going forward.

“At least now I know when credit or debit cards are involved, I need to be more careful,” she said.

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When Kilani’s video went viral, she was met with a lot of empathic comments. Users in Toronto and beyond left comments explaining how similar things happened to them.

“Someone tried this with me at Spadina [Avenue] & Dundas [Street] a few months ago & honestly shoutouts to social media cus I knew right away to just walk away & ignore,” wrote @marwo.

“I work in the bank and this was a taxi fraud that’s been on the rise. Exact situation happens, they switch cards, take money out every way possible,” replied user @namia.

Since as early as March, Toronto police have been warning residents of this exact scam where one individual poses as a driver and another poses as a customer. Their M.O. is to steal a good Samaritan’s debit or credit card and use it to make fraudulent purchases and withdrawals.

During Kilani’s interaction with the scammers, she managed to take a video of the vehicle’s license plate. She told Daily Hive she filed an online report with the police.

“It saddens me to see that a lot of people have fallen for this kind of trap. I know if I had seen this on social media prior to the incident, I wouldn’t have helped the young man,” she said. “That is why I chose to share my story in hopes that people can avoid these types of situations considering how common they are.”

Police urge those impacted by this scam to contact their bank immediately and deactivate all the tap-to-pay features on their cards. They also recommend taking photos of the suspect(s) and vehicle if possible.

Anyone who has been a victim of fraud and lost money is encouraged to report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or call 1-888-495-8501.