Criminals posing as health inspectors have been targeting people who work at restaurants and grocery stores across Alberta.

The fraudsters ask business owners for personal information, threaten to impose fines and demand money, Alberta Health Services said Wednesday.

The frauds usually start with a phone call, which should be a tip that something isn't right, says Alberta's senior medical officer of health, Dr. Gerry Predy.

"Our health inspectors don't call to arrange a meeting," he said. "They generally show up unannounced. So if they do get a call from someone pretending to be a health inspector, again, that's likely a scam."

After the scammer verifies information from the business owner, someone else calls them later with an alpha-numeric code. They are to give that code to another caller who says they are from the "health department."

The caller then tries to set up an inspection. If the business doesn't cooperate, the caller threatens them with fines.

AHS has received dozens of calls from business operators across the province about this scam over the past couple of weeks.

Similar scams have been reported across the country.

All legitimate AHS health inspectors carry identification. If a business owner is suspicious of someone who claims to be a health inspector, they should ask for ID and call police if they think the inspector is a fraud, Predy said.