Fake inspectors target eateries

By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News
Published: June 07, 2010


Lower Mainland restaurants are being warned to watch for scammers who pose as health inspectors.

The phoney inspectors sometimes threaten fines for failing to schedule inspections.

That's a warning sign, according to health authority officials, because inspections are nearly always unannounced, not scheduled.

The fraudsters try to extract detailed business and personal information from the restaurant operator for the purposes of identity theft, apparently for use in circumventing Craigslist's security settings.

Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Richmond and Vancouver restaurants have received the suspicious calls.

The business is first called by a real person who says a second automated call will come giving them a numeric code to write down.

A third caller saying they're from the "Health Department" asks for the numeric code and then tries to set up an in-person restaurant inspection, threatening fines if the restaurant doesn't comply.

Tim Shum, Fraser Health's regional director of health protection, said environmental health officers use progressive enforcement – barring an immediate health hazard, a ticket or closure order would only come after a series of enforcement steps.

"We do not issue a violation ticket to a restaurant operator for failing to schedule an inspection," he said.

Restaurants should ask to see the photo ID of anyone coming to their premises claiming to be an inspector.