The Saskatchewan Health Authority has shared details to help residents identify when they are receiving a phone call from the SHA about test results and contact tracing, after reports of some wariness from seniors about answering calls from unknown numbers.
As the SHA is using a hosted call centre for contact tracing and delivering test results, it's possible that SHA phonecalls may appear on residents’ phones as numbers from out of country, which may be causing anxiety for some.
The public service announcement on March 4 offered two ways for people to confirm the legitimacy of an SHA call.
Firstly, SHA representatives will identify themselves and begin by asking for a partial information exchange to confirm the identity of the person they are calling.
At the beginning of a call, the SHA will provide the recipient with the first three digits of their Saskatchewan Health Card number and ask them to then reply with the last three digits of their card number.
SHA callers may also ask individuals to confirm their first and last name and date of birth, to ensure both the caller and recipient are legitimate.
In some situations, such as if the SHA is contacting an individual to let them know they have been a close contact, this information exchange may not be possible as the SHA only has limited information, like a first name and phone number.
For those who are questioning the legitimacy of the call or are hesitant to answer phone numbers they do not recognize, the SHA also has a call-back option in place to help residents protect themselves from potentially fraudulent calls.
Residents can take note of the phone number and then call it back to verify the phonecall was from the SHA. When doing this, they will either be connected with an SHA representative, or they will hear a recording stating that they have reached the SHA and a representative will attempt to call them again from the same number.
The public announcement emphasized that it is important to check if that unknown call, whether missed or ignored, was from the SHA, especially during the pandemic.
