City Hall and the police department are putting out the word that the city never calls people on the phone, asking them to participate in a survey.
A social media post indicates that a local woman got an automated call, asking her to press 1 to get to a city-sponsored COVID-19 survey.
Police communications coordinator Marc Depatie confirms that she did the right thing by hanging up and calling the city.
“That’s a false claim and your red flags should go up when you hear that sort of thing,” he remarks.
Sophisticated phone scams can result in a lot of grief for you if you do press 1.
Depatie outlines how the city would operate in a case like this.
“If you’re attending the city’s web site and you see that there’s an opportunity to participate in a survey, then that’s an entirely different set of circumstances. That is in fact legitimate. They are seeking legitimate information from individuals at that time.”