NYC Alert: There's a Fake Taxi Stealing New Yorkers' Credit Cards

Thanks to a fast-acting Redditor, there's very good reason to believe a fake yellow taxi is driving around the streets of New York City and stealing New Yorkers' credit card information:

"I got into a normal NYC taxi today, but when it was time to pay, the driver took my card and swiped it through two different machines, stealing my info," he wrote. "Then I realized he wasn't even a real NYC taxi!"

What else gave this clever, sophisticated, and convincing scam away?

For starters, as you can see from the first photo below, the backseat passenger credit card machine was simply turned off.

Also, there was no medallion/driver information in view to backseat riders, as there should (photo #2). The exterior of the cab was also suspect: the back and front number atop the taxi's roof didn't match, and the medallion atop the hood had been removed (photos #3-5).

In the last picture below, you can also see the two aforemetioned, different credit card machines sitting in the front seat.

Currently, the Taxi and Limousine Commission believes the taxi (which they believe, after retirement, had been bought in an auction several years ago) was caught committing this type of scam before-- once back in 2006 and again in 2007.

The agency also said it was actively looking for the fake cab, so as to get the driver and the cab off the street for good.