Montreal woman loses $1,000 in pizza delivery scam
Posted December 22, 2023 9:03 pm.
Last Updated December 22, 2023 11:32 pm.
A Montreal woman fell victim to a fraudulent scheme during what appeared to be a genuine act of kindness.
Layana Muhdi AlTousai lost $1000 when she offered to pay for a stranger’s pizza.
“It was a shock to me, and I felt really heartbroken because all I was trying to do is a nice thing to the person,” said Muhdi AlTousai.
The incident occurred on Dec. 15 near Saint-Catherine Street West and Stanley Street in downtown Montreal when Muhdi AlTousai was approached by two young men, one posing as a Domino’s Pizza delivery driver, and the other carrying a Domino’s Pizza box. The individual with the pizza box asked if she could pay for his pizza, explaining that the delivery driver was not accepting cash.
“I went to help him, and when I did, unfortunately, they swapped my card with another one, and they used my card for fraud transactions,” said Muhdi AlTousai.
Muhdi AlTousai says that given the so-called delivery driver’s car and uniform, she didn’t harbour much suspicion.
“They had the logo that they usually put on top, and also the person behind the wheel was wearing the Domino’s uniform.”
Shortly after, Muhdi AlTousai filed a police report and informed her bank immediately. She also took to TikTok to warn others.
“There were a lot of people who told me they were in a similar situation on that day, and they didn’t realize until they saw my TikTok that it was actually a scam, which made me really happy because it wasn’t too late for them to report it,” said Muhdi AlTousai.
The video on TikTok garnered nearly 200,000 views.
According to the SPVM, there were 992 reports of fraud in the city last month, the highest so far this year. The data for this month has not yet been released.
Contrary to the scammers’ claims, Domino’s Pizza told CityNews that none of their drivers are prohibited from accepting cash, and there would never be a time when they would insist on one method of payment over another.
As for Muhdi AlTousai, she is urging others to be more aware.
“The point is not to make people have a negative view about society or not want to help anymore. It’s just, be more cautious when you do it and know exactly who you’re helping and why.”
