Statistics Canada survey over the phone....

[canucksfan]

I just got a call from someone from statistics canada about some stress level survey or something like that. They started off asking a whole bunch of questions like names of the people in the household, ages, etc. Is this survey mandatory? Do I have to answer them? Sounds irrelevant to the survey and don't really feel comfortable doing this over the phone...

[Manic!]

No. Just hang up. What are they going to do call the cops?

[- kT]

seriously man, you need to ask? just hang up

[7seven]

Be careful releasing any info, including names of people in your household without first verifying it is in fact really Stats Can, a lot of scammers call with this as one of the first steps in ID theft

Statistics Canada warns of bogus callers

VANCOUVER: Statistics Canada has issued a warning to the public about callers who claim to be an employee and who demand social insurance numbers, credit card numbers or bank account information. While Statistics Canada has many ongoing surveys, it does not collect this kind of personal financial information.

These callers are in fact not Statistics Canada employees. Their requests are not legitimate, and the public should not provide any information that they request. In some cases, bogus callers simply reference a Statistics Canada survey while in others they refer to the Census of Canada.

Statistics Canada is asking anyone who receives such a call to contact them at 1-800-263-1136 (toll-free) or at infostats@statcan.gc.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Statistics Canada is also advising anyone who may already have provided their SIN, credit card number or bank account information under suspicious circumstances over the phone to contact their local police service.

For more information, contact Peter Liang, Communications Officer, Statistics Canada Western Region and Northern Territories at 604-666-7107.

Le présent avis est aussi disponible en français.

Peter Liang
Communications Officer/Agent des communications Statistics Canada Western Region & Northern Territories Statistique Canada - Région de l'Ouest et des territoires du Nord 600 - 300 West Georgia St./rue Georgia Ouest, bureau 600 Vancouver, B.C. (C.-B.) V6B 6C7
Tel/Bureau: 604-666-7107
Fax/Télécopieur: 604-666-6680
Email/Courriel: peter.liang@statcan.gc.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada

On Behalf of:

Kathryn Hennigar
Community Policing Coordinator
Sea to Sky Regional Police Services
Squamish CP Office
Office (604)892-9213

Only certain type of surveys are mandatory, from the Stats Can website:

How did Statistics Canada choose me for one of its surveys?

Participants for a sample survey are selected randomly in order to avoid any biases. Once you have been selected, we cannot ask anyone else to complete your questionnaire because the sample would no longer be random.

Do I have to participate in the survey?

If you have been contacted for the Census, the Labour Force Survey, a business survey or an agriculture survey, you have to participate because these surveys are mandatory as per the Statistics Act. For other surveys, participation is voluntary.

How do I know that this is a legitimate survey?

Statistics Canada surveys are conducted in person or by telephone. For many surveys, Statistics Canada will first send an introductory letter to let you know about the purpose of the survey and to inform you that an interviewer will communicate with you.

If you have not received such a letter, you can verify that the survey is indeed conducted by Statistics Canada:

* by looking up the name of your survey in the list of current surveys
* by verifying that the interviewer carries a photo identification card issued by Statistics Canada
* by contacting the Statistics Canada offices:
o 1 800 263-1136 - Toll-free general enquiries line
o 1 800 363-7629 - National TTY line (teletype machine)

Don't be surprised if a Statistics Canada interviewer shows up at your door or contacts you by telephone in the evening or on weekends. To accommodate the respondents' busy schedules, our team of dedicated interviewers works at different times of the day, and sometimes seven days a week. For a telephone survey, you could also be called from different areas of Canada.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/survey-enqu...131969-eng.htm

[TheNewGirl]

Statistics companies should NEVER ask for the names of people in the household except for a contact person for supervisor verification at the end of a survey.

Anyone who asks you for the names of household members or any identifying data (birthdays, SIN numbers, card numbers) is scamming you and should be reported to the police.

[canucksfan]

Hmmm so I should just ignore this?

I told them I wasn't comfortable with giving out this information, and they gave me a phone number to call back with a reference number. Said if I don't call back they'll call me back tomorrow.

Found on the statscan website that it's the phone number for their National Population Health Survey (NPHS), so I guess it's legit. Still, I don't want to be giving out that kind of information (they're not asking for personal information like SIN or financials, but just things like age, names of ppl in household, and # of people in household).

Have they called anyone here? Normally I would just hang up but this is a government organization, so not sure if things like that are mandatory or not.

[tiger_handheld]

you can always change up the names, +/- 2-3 years for birth dates, etc..


one disadvantage about a survey is ppl lie ... and they account for it by going "accurate 19/20" ...

[orange7]

just hang up. Don't worry, our government isn't going to put you in jail just cause you hanged up on them.

Just be polite and tell them that you don't want to do this survey.