British Columbia

Northern Health says scammers impersonating its employees

Northern Health is warning about two scams in which the scammers are pretending to work for the health authority, including one where the scammer has what appears to be Northern Health ID.

Residents advised to call Northern Health if one of its "employees" mysteriously comes to visit

Northern Health (head office building pictured) says at least two scams are in operation where scammers pretend to be from the health authority. (Google Street View)

Northern Health is warning people in B.C.'s north about two reported scams where the scammers pretend to be with Northern Health to get information about potential victims.

The first is operating in the Prince George area.

A person pretending to be with the health authority approaches a home under the pretense of an air quality survey, then comes back a short time later and requests access to the victim's home. The person reportedly has some sort of identification that says they're with Northern Health.

"Our program areas are not conducting door-to-door surveys … if a Northern Health employee does come to your house, it's usually with a pre-scheduled appointment," Northern Health spokesman Jonathan Dyck told Radio West's Rebecca Zandbergen.

"What we'd encourage people to do is if somebody does come to your house saying they're a Northern Health employee, and it doesn't seem like a legitimate source, that they do contact a local facility to check the legitimacy of the person coming to their house."

The second scam is an internet and telephone scam in which scammers have been impersonating Northern Health employees to try and obtain personal information such as banking details under the guise of a job offer, which is also fraudulent.

Dyck says he is unsure how many times the scam has been attempted, but the investigation is now in the hands of the RCMP.


To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: Scammers impersonating Northern Health employees