Health officials in Vancouver are warning restaurant owners about a North America-wide phone scam in which callers posing as health officials try to get businesses to schedule inspections of their premises that never actually take place.

It is not yet clear what the purpose of the fraudulent calls is or even who is getting scammed.

Richard Taki, the regional director of health protection for Vancouver Coastal Health, described the scam in the following way:

• The fake official calls up a restaurant threatening to fine the establishment unless the owner books a health inspection.
• The caller advises the restaurant owner that a subsequent automated call will provide them with a numeric code that they should write down.
• Shortly after they get the automated call, another person calls who says they are from the Health Department and asks for the numeric code.
• The fake health official advises the restaurant to set up an in-person inspection and threatens to fine the establishment if it doesn't co-operate.

Purpose of calls unclear

Officials with the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health authorities say the purpose of the scam is not entirely clear but that it might be a type of identity fraud aimed at circumventing the security settings on the online classified site Craigslist.

They did not specify why they think that might be the case and how such a circumvention would work.

They did say, however, that the scam is not restricted to the Vancouver area but has been reported throughout North America.

"This appears to be part of an on-going continent-wide scam," the health officials said in a statement released Monday.

Another theory is that the scam is related to some sort of long distance calling fraud, said Taki.

Thus far, no one in the Vancouver area has reported fake inspectors coming to any restaurants in person.

People who suspect a restaurant inspector might be a fake should ask to see credentials, and anyone who has received the kind of calls described above should contact police, Taki said.

"Environmental health officers in VCH and Fraser Health do not routinely call food service establishments to schedule inspections," said Taki. "In almost all cases, inspections are unannounced."