Several Ottawa restaurants have been targeted by scammers posing as health inspectors.

In a typical fraud, the phoney official contacts a restaurant and solicits sensitive banking and financial information about the business. Sometimes they threaten a restaurant with fines if the manager doesn’t call a given phone number and enter particular codes. In other variations, an eatery manager is told to expect an automated call and to dial a code when it comes.

The scammer uses the information and phone confirmations to set up fake sales on online sites like eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji from which they pocket the cash and never supply any goods.

The con has been around for at least a year, with reports of it surfacing in Yukon, Alberta and Toronto.

M.J. Hodgins, manager at Patty’s Pub in Old Ottawa South, said he received a call recently from someone claiming to be from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“It definitely surprised because we run a pretty clean shop here. We just had an inspection a week and a half prior to that,” Hodgins said. He said he didn’t simply hang up the phone because of the chance it was a legitimate call.

In the end, Hodgins didn’t give out any private info, but said he’s still left with some anxiety over the experience.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency began warning about the fraud last year. It says its inspectors always carry badges and would never engage in certain telltale behaviours.

“Our inspectors would never contact someone in advance in that manner, and they would not collect fines,” said Cathy Airth, associate vice-president of operations for the CFIA.

Police recommend that restaurant owners stay vigilant and not hand out sensitive information over the phone. Indian and Chinese restaurants are common targets in the scam, police said.