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What happens?
A restaurant receives a call from an individual claiming to be a health inspector with the “US Health Department” or the City of Milwaukee Health Department. This fake inspector then explains that the health department is implementing new procedures for health inspections. This procedure requires that the restaurant owner obtain a special confirmation code (or in some cases it is referred to as a pass code or inspector ID number) in order to schedule an inspection - that never actually occurs. In some cases the restaurant owner is given a phone number to call with the code or the restaurant owner may receive another call asking for the code. If the restaurant owner questions the validity of this transaction, the phony inspector will often threaten expensive fines.
Why?
It appears that this scam is another variation on one that we alerted members about last year where the goal is to obtain “verified accounts” to use in other Internet schemes. The scammers are hoping to use restaurant owners to unknowingly provide false verification with the confirmation codes.
How to spot the scam
While it’s possible that your health department or inspector could call to set up an appointment, they would not ask you to provide personal information such as your cell phone number or social security number. Additionally, your inspector carries official photo ID and should be able to produce this at your request.
If you get a call
Refuse to cooperate and absolutely do not provide sensitive or confidential information over the phone such as a social security number, bank account data or credit card account details.
If you feel that it’s possible that the individual contacting you is legitimately working with your health department, explain that there has been a scam targeting restaurants and ask for their contact information so you can verify that they indeed work with the health department. Explain that you will contact them at a later time once you’ve confirmed that contact information.
These con-artists are cleverly tapping into operators’ feelings of nervousness that can occur when a health inspector calls. While the idea of working with your inspector can sometimes be intimidating, keep in mind that the ultimate goal of the health department is to help you ensure the safety of the food you are serving. Your health inspector would not be participating in a shady transaction like this so you’d be right to question the validity of it.
Please let WRA know if you’ve been targeted by a scam. We track scams impacting the industry and alert members to any new fraudulent schemes.
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ALERT: New Scam Targeting Restaurants
