The Editor,
As a resident of one of the highrise buildings in NewPort Village, I received a phone call on each of three successive days recently from someone presenting themselves as a representative of a gas fireplace cleaning service.
Each time, they claimed that our strata council authorized them to be in the building and to contact residents regarding cleaning the fireplaces.
Our strata council has given no such authorization. When I try to call them on the number that shows up on my phone’s caller ID, Telus tells me I have dialled a number that is not in use.
The Telus operator then told me such sales callers often use a technique to leave a not-in-use caller ID number, so “just ignore these calls.”
I believe this may be a scam to breach building security so someone posing as a fireplace cleaner can gain entry to the building for purposes other than fireplace cleaning — like theft. At best, the caller is presenting false information to promote their business. At worst, they’re trying a new scheme to breach our security system.
In either event, you could do a lot of people a service by letting them know these calls are not legitimate.
Jim Peacock, Port Moody
