Calgary Police Service (CPS) have issued Alberta wide warrants for four Ontario men accused of running a Canada wide taxi fraud ring that cost 16 victims more than $28,000.Investigators say the scam lasted six days last July, but the probe stretched for a year as officers followed the suspects through Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.Police allege the group used two cons on the same fraud. In one, a man claiming his cab would not take cash asked strangers to cover a fare of about seven dollars with a debit or credit card in exchange for a $10 bill. In the other, an unlicensed driver took fares as if operating a real taxi.Either way, riders were handed a point of sale machine and told the tap function was broken. .When the customer inserted a card and keyed in a PIN, a hidden skimmer captured the code. The suspect then slipped away the real card and returned a stolen one that looked identical.With both the card and the PIN, the group allegedly emptied bank accounts at ATMs or bought prepaid Visa and gift cards within minutes.CPS logged 19 complaints between July 9 and 14, 2024, involving 18 transactions and 16 victims. Similar reports later surfaced in Edmonton, Toronto, and the Metro Vancouver area..Arvinder Singh, 24, is charged with 17 counts of credit card theft and seven of fraud under $5,000. Martin Hudec Siron, 19, faces 15 theft counts and six of fraud. Ibrahim Kald, 24, is charged with five theft and three fraud counts, while Matthew Tani, also 24, faces four theft and seven fraud counts.Officers believe the men have left Alberta and returned to Ontario. Anyone who spots them is asked to call local police or Crime Stoppers.Calgary police thanked investigators in Edmonton, Burnaby, Metro Vancouver, Halton Region, and the Ontario Provincial Police for their help.
