A man has spoken out about his ordeal after taxi scammers allegedly attempted to access his bank accounts in an attempt to steal money from him.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, had grabbed a taxi on Harcourt Street in the later hours of March 16. However, the man then became uneasy when he realised someone else was sitting in the backseat, and he noticed the taxi heading in the wrong direction - prompting a heated discussion between the driver and the man.
The driver asked him for his mobile phone in order to input his address directly from Google Maps. The man was then ejected from the backseat of the car by the other passenger once the phone was in the driver's hands before the vehicle sped off.
READ MORE: Dublin taxi scam warning as man robbed of phone and €1,300
Speaking to Dublin Live, the man said: "I should have known something was up but I was told the other person was being dropped off. I ran after them briefly after I hit the ground but they were soon gone."
Thankfully, he was familiar with the area he was in and headed to a pub where he could order another Taxi back to his house.
The unnamed man was able to access his Google Maps history, something he hopes will be able to help Gardaí track down the stolen phone.
The next day, St Patrick’s Day, the man decided to report the incident to the Gardaí. He was also made aware that his friends had been contacted for money from his stolen phone.
He added: "My friends were being contacted asking for money- unfortunately some people were overly kind and sent it. We ran down to an ATM after reporting what had happened at Dundrum Garda Station and withdrew everything."
Luckily, time stamps showed that there were attempts to access his bank account after the money had been withdrawn. He also cancelled his Revolut to exercise further caution.
The man explained that the theft had left him uneasy about entering a taxi on his own and added that he would in future only book a taxi via an official app that showed the car registration.
He told the publication: "I was in a taxi a while after and my friend mentioned what had happened to me- the driver was extremely defensive about the whole thing, but he acknowledged that it was an issue.
“There are a few bad eggs painting a poor picture of the whole industry and unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do about it."
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