A man called from (613) 688-6051 and said he was from Health Canada doing a survey on chronic diseases.

(613) 688-5051>MALATESTI checked malatest.com. they are a company of some kind of survey thing.anyway I don't trust when they don't tell me how they get my info.

I have Bell Canada's "Ident-a-call" on my home phone line, it gives you a 2nd number that rings on your primary line, but with a different ring pattern ("first" line gives normal ring, "2nd" line gives "ring-ring" like the British).  I let my "published" or first line be my fax machine, and the 2nd line be my voice number, keeps lots of telemarketers a bay :-)  Also lets you have a "fax line" and a "voice line" without having to pay for 2 phone lines, with the benefit that your voice line is unlisted (at no additional cost) and when you call out, the "first" number is the one that shows, so if companies use the line "you called us, you're an existing customer so we're exempt from Do Not Call lists" it doesn't interrupt your dinner :-)This number just called in on my first (fax) number.

I got a call from (613) 688-5051 and when we answered we heard children laughing in the background.

They actually left me a message on my voice mail, saying they're calling on behalf of BC Stats and conducting a survey for the govt of Canada. They asked me to call back to a toll free number and gave me some access code to tell them when I reach them.

What made me worried is that they new my last name. It's not in my voice mail greeting, so obviously they had my personal information from somewhere. The even funnier thing is that BC Stats sent something to my old address (my old landlord told me, haven't picked it up yet), with my full name and street address, but with a different city and postal code (Canada Post did a good job delivering it anyway).

So it's sketchy that they have my personal information and they're calling me and sending me stuff...

I'm actually an employee of Malatest. We're a legit survey company with government contracts and many laws to follow to protect people. We get our numbers from many places, sometimes from the client who we're contracted by and sometimes from listed numbers. Everything we do is legitimate and legal! As a surveyor, we're desperate on our end to get completes. A tip from an inside, if you're not interested and don't want to participate simply answer the phone, wait until we are done our little 30 second introduction and politely say "I'm sorry i am not interested" and we will never call you back! I'm not sure if anyone will take me serious, but it's true, try it! As for foodbook, its a survey for the Public Health Agency of Canada. We ask about foods you've eaten, animals you've been in contact with and water you drank. Also, try and be kind, most of us are hard working students trying our best to do our jobs while also making you guys happy and just trying to make money for university. Don't yell at us that it's supper time, supper time literally varies from 4pm-8pm when we call people, we can't read your minds. If you explain to the person on the phone, they will listen.