A student has told RTE’s Liveline with Joe Duffy how he fell victim to an alleged 'fake taxi' scam and had his phone stolen.
The caller, identified as Cormac, featured on today's episode to share the incident which he says happened on Saturday morning, February 4, in Dublin city centre.
He hopes to warn members of the public about the alleged 'fake taxi' scam.
Cormac, a UCD student, said he had been on a night out with friends and was heading home when it happened.
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He explained how he was outside a hotel near St Stephen's Green waiting for a bus to UCD but when he missed it, ended up waiting for another one for thirty minutes.
While waiting at the bus stop, he says he was approached by a random girl who said she was a student going to UCD too.
Cormac told RTE’s Liveline: “I was on a night out and I was waiting outside a hotel for the bus to UCD, I missed it so waited about 30 minutes, when a girl approached me and said she was also going to UCD, was a student too, and asked me did I want to share a taxi.”
In a turn of events, he said: “The 'taxi' pulled up and we both got into the car
“We were in the car less than five minutes, when she saw me putting the code into my phone, I wasn't really paying attention.
“The 'taxi' then pulled over suddenly and asked me to get into the front of the car, which I did.”
Before Cormac knew what had happened, he said the girl snatched his phone, and kicked him out of the car.
He said the car wasn’t a real taxi and claimed the girl and driver of the vehicle were working together in a targeted robbery and a set up.
Cormac told Joe: “She knocked me out of the car and took my phone.
“I got up off the ground and they sped off, I got another taxi and raced home, I reported the incident to the gardai who came to my home that night, took a statement and the phone details such as the IMEI.”
The day after the incident, Cormac went to a Vodafone store and said the Vodafone staff made him aware that similar instances had been reported by other Vodafone users whose phones were stolen in a similar fashion.
He said: “I went to Vodafone the next day to report my phone as stolen, and Vodafone said it had happened to a few people.
"They sent messages to my friends and family looking for money in an emergency, even asking for €300, it was madness."
The Garda investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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