{"id":403560,"date":"2026-08-19T13:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/?p=403560"},"modified":"2026-08-19T13:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:21:05","slug":"tell-city-hall-exposed-real-surveys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/tell-city-hall-exposed-real-surveys\/","title":{"rendered":"Tell City Hall EXPOSED: Real Surveys, Not Your City Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The caller ID says Tell City Hall. Sometimes it is a robocall that starts talking before you can say hello. Sometimes it is a text with a survey link. Sometimes it is an email that looks like it came from the building on your tax bill. You do not remember signing up. You still feel like you should answer, because the name sounds like your municipality is asking.<\/p><div id=\"mwtad2371587201\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309684--placement_400588\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3957935887\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That name is the trap. Not a stolen-card trap. A municipal-sounding name on a private survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad3742855573\" class=\"mwtadp1 mwtadentity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;margin-bottom: 50px;\"> \r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7312657698\"><\/ins>\r\n <\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell City Hall is a real Canadian market-research program. It is run by Advanis Inc., a private firm in Edmonton that has been in the survey business for more than 30 years. The company is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council and has held the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association Gold Seal since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official site is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tellcityhall.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TellCityHall.ca<\/a>. The survey pages sit on surveys.tellcityhall.ca. None of that makes the call come from your city clerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you already answered, you did not automatically lose money. A real Tell City Hall survey asks opinions. It does not ask for a card, a Social Insurance Number, or a password. If someone using that name asked for those, stop. That is a different problem wearing the same costume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large mt-screenshot\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-homepage.png\" alt=\"Official TellCityHall.ca homepage with the TellCityHall name over a government building photo\" class=\"wp-image-403554\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-homepage.png 1280w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-homepage-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-homepage-1024x640.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad257606084\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309747-ad_309691-placement_400589\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"9589536513\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trap is the name on the display. Tell City Hall is a real private survey program, not a clerk and not a municipal notice. The call, the text, and the email are outreach from Advanis. The brand was chosen so it fits on a phone and sounds like civic work. Your city may have nothing to do with that study. Several Canadian cities have said so in public, in their own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad1345266535\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309686-ad_309691-placement_400597\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"6935453015\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advanis describes Tell City Hall on its own site as a probability-based sample of mobile-enabled Canadians that it offers to government clients. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tellcityhall.ca\/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tell City Hall FAQ<\/a> says the same thing in plainer language. It is a public-sector program of Advanis. The surveys are for governments and non-profits. Some studies are paid by a client. Some are paid by Advanis itself, then offered to governments later. The brand name stays the same either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The name on the caller ID<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad1057224\" class=\"mwtadp3 mwtadentity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5910219726\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your phone does not say Advanis. It says Tell City Hall, or TellCityHall, squeezed into the same space as a missed-call label. That is on purpose. The FAQ is open about it. The company wanted a name that would be easy to remember and short enough to fit on a phone&#8217;s call display. It also wanted the name to signal public-policy questions, not a product pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is a branding choice, not a city letterhead. A real city hall does not need a national survey brand to ask you about snow clearing. It already has a website, a 311 line, and a consultation page with the city&#8217;s own logo. Tell City Hall borrowed the civic feeling and put it on a private panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The homepage is a research shop introducing itself, not a clerk sending a ballot. It talks about surveys and published research. It is not a municipal notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same name shows up in texts and emails. Port Moody told residents the invitations arrived as texts, emails, or phone calls. Pitt Meadows listed the same three channels. Burlington&#8217;s mayor answered a resident who saw TellCityHall on an automated call display. If the name is on the screen, treat it as a survey brand until you have a better reason to treat it as your city.<\/p><div id=\"mwtad1981375542\" class=\"mwtadp4 mwtadentity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5910219726\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">It is not your city<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the part people miss, and it is the part cities keep having to repeat. A survey about local life is not the same thing as a survey from local government. Tell City Hall can ask about policing, housing, health care, or a provincial race without your mayor hiring anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.portmoody.ca\/news-and-notices\/posts\/tell-city-hall-survey-has-no-connection-to-city-of-port-moody\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">City of Port Moody&#8217;s July 2021 notice<\/a> is blunt. Staff said some residents had received texts, emails, or phone calls inviting them to a Tell City Hall survey. The city said it has no connection with Tell City Hall and has not hired the company to do any surveys or research on its behalf. Port Moody said it usually talks to residents through Engage Port Moody, the city website, and social channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once in a while it mails a survey in a Canada Post envelope with the city logo. Every two years it asks Ipsos to run a citizen survey by phone. That is what official outreach looks like in that city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/portmoody-notice.png\" alt=\"City of Port Moody notice titled Tell City Hall survey has no connection to City of Port Moody\" class=\"wp-image-403558\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/portmoody-notice.png 1280w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/portmoody-notice-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/portmoody-notice-1024x640.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pittmeadows.ca\/our-community\/news\/notices\/unauthorized-survey-tell-city-hall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">City of Pitt Meadows notice<\/a> uses the same map. Residents were getting emails, texts, and phone surveys from Tell City Hall. The city said it is not associated with Tell City Hall and has not commissioned surveys from that organization. Most of its digital engagement runs through haveyoursaypittmeadows.ca. If something looks like the city and feels off, Pitt Meadows asked people to write info@pittmeadows.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad1039599444\" class=\"mwtadp5 mwtadentity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8560433799\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Burlington, the question landed in the mayor&#8217;s inbox. On <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mariannemeedward.ca\/posts-to-be-added\/mayors-monday-mailbag-may-15-2023-where-are-these-tellcityhall-automated-calls-coming-from\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">15 May 2023, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward<\/a> answered a resident who asked whether an automated TellCityHall call came from Burlington City Hall. The answer was no. The mayor&#8217;s office said the same calls had been reported in 2019 and had started turning up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It described TellCityHall as a market research company based in Edmonton that does surveys for the private and public sector, using random digit dialing, with no affiliation with the City of Burlington. The 2019 wave included topics such as the carbon tax and cannabis. The mayor asked people to tell neighbours the same thing: it is not from elected officials or city staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calgary had to say it in public too. <a href=\"https:\/\/livewirecalgary.com\/2019\/04\/16\/city-of-calgary-warns-citizens-it-is-not-conducting-phone-surveys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LiveWire Calgary reported on 16 April 2019<\/a> that the city put out a short press release after residents got robocalls from a group called Tell City Hall asking how they planned to vote in the provincial election. The city said it was not sending those robocalls, and that it does not ask citizens about their election choices. That is a city speaking about its own practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad3647046472\" class=\"mwtadp6 mwtadentity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4034304343\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is not a verdict on whether the survey company is fake. It is a verdict on the caller ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read those notices as a pattern, not as a national ban. One city can hire a research firm. Another city can have nothing to do with the same brand. The name on the phone does not tell you which case you are in. The city&#8217;s own site does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What a real survey never asks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A legitimate Tell City Hall survey wants your opinion, your age, and sometimes the first three characters of your postal code. The FAQ explains the postal question. Those three characters are a forward sortation area. They show a region, not a house. The company says you can refuse that one. Age is treated more strictly because the sample has to look like the population, and because people under 14 are not supposed to be surveyed without a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is already more personal than a weather poll, and it is still not a payment screen. A real survey in this program does not need your credit card. It does not need your debit card. It does not need your SIN. It does not need the password to your email, your bank, or your city account. It does not need a gift-card code, a crypto transfer, or remote access to your phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The privacy page says answers are grouped and reported in aggregate. It says personal details may be kept so the company can invite you again or send an honorarium. An honorarium, if one is offered, should be something the survey itself explains. It should not arrive as a stranger asking you to pay a fee so you can receive a prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the page starts asking for a card to &#8220;verify&#8221; you, you have left the real survey, or you were never on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Copycats love a trusted name. A private survey brand that already sounds like city hall is a gift to anyone running a fake invoice, a fake fine, or a fake refund. The defense is boring and it works. Stay on surveys.tellcityhall.ca. If the link is a look-alike, close it. If a voice asks you to read a card number &#8220;for the file,&#8221; hang up. The real company can live without your PAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to opt out<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Do Not Call List will not save you here. The CRTC treats market research, polls, and surveys as exempt. Those calls are not selling a product and they are not asking for a donation, so they are not telemarketing under that list. Tell City Hall quotes that rule on its FAQ, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/phone\/telemarketing\/exempt.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CRTC&#8217;s own exemption page<\/a> says the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company does keep its own do-not-call list. On the FAQ, the opt-out is still written in two places, in the same words. Send an email to info@tellcityhall.ca with the subject Opt Out, and put your phone number in the body so they can find you. Or leave a voicemail on 1-888-883-7094 and say you want to be removed. That toll-free number is also on the contact page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use those two doors. Do not shout at a robocall and assume the list heard you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-faq.png\" alt=\"TellCityHall.ca FAQ page listing questions about the program and the TellCityHall name\" class=\"wp-image-403556\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-faq.png 1280w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-faq-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tellcityhall-faq-1024x640.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Write down the date you emailed or called. If another invitation arrives six weeks later, you have a paper trail. The FAQ says the company will contact a person at most once every six weeks. That is their stated pace, not a promise that the first opt-out lands in an hour. Give it time, then send the same request again if the number keeps ringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad772380432\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309748-ad_309691-placement_400590\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3906789406\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How The Survey Call Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you stop hearing &#8220;city hall&#8221; as a building, the mechanics are ordinary. A research firm needs a sample that looks like the country. It cannot wait for volunteers, because volunteers are not random. So it generates numbers, dials them, and invites whoever answers. The civic branding is the wrapper. Random digit dialing is the engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The robocall, the text, and the email<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first contact is usually short. A recorded voice names Tell City Hall and asks if you will take a survey. A text points you to a link. An email does the same with a login or an invitation code. City notices in Port Moody and Pitt Meadows all three channels. Burlington&#8217;s mailbag was about the automated call. Calgary&#8217;s 2019 warning was about robocalls on an election topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you say yes on the phone, the FAQ says a text goes out automatically with the survey link. Telecom filters sometimes eat that message. The company says it will send another after two days, and sometimes a last reminder after a week, unless you already finished. That is why a person can get a call and then a text that looks unrelated. They are two halves of the same invite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey host is surveys.tellcityhall.ca. Open that host without a fresh invite and you land on a timeout page in several languages. It tells you the session died after an hour of inactivity and that your answers were saved. It tells you to use the link from the email invitation. That is a research platform, not a municipal portal. There is no property-tax tab. There is no parking ticket. There is a survey that expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How they got your number<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People ask this every time, because a civic-sounding call feels like someone pulled a voter file. The FAQ describes something colder. Phone numbers are grouped into rate centres by the first six digits. Each rate centre has up to 10,000 possible last-four combinations. The company picks a rate centre, then generates the last four digits at random. That is random digit dialing. It is not a list of city hall clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is not proof that your mayor sold a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You also cannot join the panel on purpose. The FAQ says the sample has to stay random, so people are not allowed to add themselves. There is a note that a voluntary list might exist later for studies that do not need that level of precision. Until then, the only way in is a random hit. The only official way out is the opt-out email or the 1-888-883-7094 voicemail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is also why the National Do Not Call List does not catch these calls. The CRTC page is clear. Market research, polls, and surveys can still reach a registered number. Debt collection is in the same &#8220;not telemarketing&#8221; bucket. A city cannot wipe the brand off your phone by adding you to 311. You have to ask the research firm itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who pays, and what the survey is about<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FAQ draws a line that matters. Some studies are sponsored by a government or a non-profit. Some are self-funded by Advanis. Self-funded work is marked with a star on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tellcityhall.ca\/surveys.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">surveys and results page<\/a>. The company says it may later share those results with governments and non-profits. Inquiries go to results@tellcityhall.ca. Client work is paid by the client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Either way, the FAQ says the sponsor is named when people are recruited, on the login page, and on the last page of the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a survey never tells you who paid, treat that as a warning light. The live program claims it discloses the sponsor in three places. A page that hides the sponsor, or a caller who refuses to name one, is not following that script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The published topic list is wide. Current headings on the surveys page include police services, city benchmarking, a Canada Revenue Agency annual study, a national justice survey, a Government of Canada survey of parents, opinions on U.S. relations and tariffs, a Government of Alberta survey, health care, the legal age for tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis, immunization, Parks Canada, cannabis consumption, finances, and aging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Older files include carbon tax work, provincial election questions, housing affordability, wildfires, vaping, and city-specific projects in Edmonton and elsewhere. A 2019 Alberta election study is marked as self-sponsored. A 2019 carbon tax study is marked the same way. That matches what Burlington&#8217;s mayor recalled from the first wave of calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advanis puts the same program in a more corporate sentence on its <a href=\"https:\/\/advanis.net\/social-and-public-research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social and public research page<\/a>. It lists more than 30 years of social research, the MRIA Gold Seal since 2009, CRIC membership since 2019, and Tell City Hall as a sample source for government clients. The privacy page lists a mailing address at Suite 200, Sun Life Place, 10123 99 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3H1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is a real office block, not a P.O. box invented last week. French-language outreach uses mavilleecoute.ca, which is the same program with a Quebec-friendly name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why the call still feels like a city<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The confusion is not a glitch. It is the product of three honest facts stacked on top of each other. The name sounds municipal. The topics are public policy. The outreach uses the same channels cities use when they actually do want to hear from you: a phone, a text, an email. Put those together and a busy person hears &#8220;city hall&#8221; and files it next to property tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cities then have to write notices that sound like scam alerts, even when the underlying company is a licensed research house. Port Moody and Pitt Meadows both told residents how the city really consults people, because the Tell City Hall invite was landing in the same inbox as official mail. Burlington&#8217;s mayor did the same in a weekly mailbag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calgary did it during an election, when a robocall about voting is the last thing a city wants attached to its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of those notices called Advanis a criminal enterprise. They said the city did not hire this company, or is not associated with it, or is not the source of the call. Hold that distinction. A private survey company using a municipal-sounding name is the mechanism. &#8220;Your city is secretly polling you&#8221; is the story the name wants you to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;A stranger is stealing your card&#8221; is a different story, and it only becomes true if the page in front of you asks for a card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad3465908900\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309749-ad_309691-placement_400591\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"5354318971\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What To Do If They Contacted You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You do not need a binder. You need a pause, a domain check, and a decision about whether you want to talk to a research firm. The steps below assume the invite looks like Tell City Hall. If the same name is being used to demand money, skip to the stop-sign section and stay there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pause before you perform civic duty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first feeling is usually obligation. Someone named city hall asked. You pay taxes. You should help. That feeling is exactly why the brand works. Give it thirty seconds. Ask one question out loud. Did my city send this, or did a survey company send this? You cannot answer that from caller ID. You answer it from the city&#8217;s own site, or from the sponsor line on the survey login.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to participate, that is a normal choice. People do these surveys every week. The answers can end up in a report a ministry actually reads. You are not foolish for saying yes. You are only at risk if you treat the name as a government badge and then type things a government would never collect in a pop-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stay on the real survey host<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Type tellcityhall.ca yourself if you want the brochure, the FAQ, or the opt-out address. If you already have an invitation, look at the link before you tap it. The survey host should be surveys.tellcityhall.ca. A hyphen, an extra word, a .com instead of .ca, or a page that asks you to install an app is not that host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the real login page, look for the sponsor. The company says it prints that name at the start and at the end. If the study is for the Canada Revenue Agency, or Alberta, or a police service, that should be visible. If the page is only a logo and a demand for a card, you are not in the program described on the FAQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do not call a number from a text to &#8220;confirm&#8221; a city file. Call the city&#8217;s published line from the city&#8217;s website. Port Moody listed info@portmoody.ca and 604-469-4500 for anything that looks like the city and feels wrong. Pitt Meadows listed info@pittmeadows.ca. Your city will have an equivalent. Use that, not the callback inside the robocall, if what you want is a municipal answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treat money questions as a stop sign<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the bright line. A real Tell City Hall survey does not collect a credit card, a debit card, a SIN, or a password. It does not threaten a fine. It does not say your water will be shut off. It does not say a refund is waiting if you pay a small processing fee. Those scripts belong to invoice scams and government-impersonation scams. They do not belong on a CRIC-member research instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you already typed a card number on a page that used this name, call the number on the back of the card. Say it was an unsolicited survey page, not a store you trust. Ask the bank to watch the account and to replace the card if charges start. Change the password on any account you entered on that page. Then tell the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CRTC page points people there for suspected fraud, at 1-888-495-8501.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you only answered opinion questions on surveys.tellcityhall.ca, you are in a different place. You shared views. You may have shared an age and a postal prefix. That is research data. It is not a payment. You can still opt out so the next wave skips you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Send the opt-out and keep the date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you do not want another invite, use the FAQ doors. Email info@tellcityhall.ca with the subject Opt Out and your phone number in the message. Or leave a voicemail at 1-888-883-7094. The contact page repeats the same email for individuals and the same phone number. Privacy questions go to privacy@tellcityhall.ca. Media goes to media@tellcityhall.ca. Results questions go to results@tellcityhall.ca. Pick the door that matches the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Opt-out is the info@ address or the voicemail, not a reply to a random short code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pressing a digit during a robocall to &#8220;remove me&#8221; is how a lot of people confirm a number is alive. Use the email. Use the voicemail on the published toll-free line. Keep a screenshot of the sent mail. If the calls continue after a couple of cycles, send the same request again and attach the first one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check your own city before you get angry at your own city<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is fair to be annoyed. The name is doing a lot of work. It is also fair to aim the annoyance at the right desk. Open your city&#8217;s website and look for a notice. Search the words Tell City Hall on that site. If your city has posted one, believe that post over the caller ID. If it has not posted one, look at how the city says it consults people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Official panels have names like Engage, Talk, or Have Your Say, plus the city domain. A Canada Post envelope with a city logo is another real path. A random Tell City Hall label is not proof either way until the city or the survey sponsor says so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you work for a municipality and residents are forwarding these invites, the Port Moody and Pitt Meadows notes are a usable template. Say whether you hired the firm. Say how you actually consult. Give a city email. That one paragraph stops a week of 311 tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad3483269510\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_309750-ad_309691-placement_400592\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"4041237300\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell City Hall is not your city hall. It is a private Canadian survey program run by Advanis Inc. in Edmonton, with more than 30 years in market research and a CRIC membership on the wall. The official brochure is on tellcityhall.ca. The survey pages are on surveys.tellcityhall.ca. The FAQ still tells you how to leave: email info@tellcityhall.ca with the subject Opt Out, or leave a voicemail at 1-888-883-7094.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trap is the name. It fits on a call display. It sounds like a civic duty. It has been convincing enough that Port Moody, Pitt Meadows, Burlington&#8217;s mayor, and Calgary have all had to tell residents the outreach was not theirs. Those statements are about affiliation, not about whether a research company exists. The company exists. The municipal costume is the part that needs a second look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Answer the survey if you want to. Read the sponsor line first. Stay on the real .ca host. Never type a card, a SIN, or a password into a page that only borrowed a city-sounding title. If the invite was only opinions, you can finish it or ignore it and then opt out. If the invite asked for money, that is no longer the survey program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is a stranger using a civic costume, and you should treat it like any other payment demand that arrived without a bill you recognize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your city will still be there tomorrow, on its own domain, with its own logo. A research firm can ask you about the city without being the city. Keep the two names separate, and the call gets a lot quieter in your head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"mwtad714589654\" class=\"gas_fallback-ad_176819-ad_309691-placement_400595\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;margin-bottom: 50px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7750719144850257\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7750719144850257\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"8386082122\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The caller ID says Tell City Hall. Sometimes it is a robocall that starts talking before you can say hello. Sometimes it is a text with a survey link. Sometimes it is an email that &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Tell City Hall EXPOSED: Real Surveys, Not Your City Hall\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/tell-city-hall-exposed-real-surveys\/#more-403560\" aria-label=\"Read more about Tell City Hall EXPOSED: Real Surveys, Not Your City Hall\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":403554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2840,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-scams","category-scam-reports","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403560"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403581,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403560\/revisions\/403581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malwaretips.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}