Yellowknife (Jan 10/07) - There's an imposter among us.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem made a special announcement at the City Council meeting on Monday.

"If anyone gets a call from someone saying they're someone they're not, in this case me, asking for money, know that I'm in good health and my family is fine," he said.

The mayor said in the past few days he has received many calls from Yellowknifers saying they received a call from a person claiming to be the mayor.

He explained - in an interview with Yellowknifer on Tuesday - most of the people who called to warn him of the imposter knows who Van Tighem is and were not fooled.

"...I don't have an accent," Van Tighem said with a chuckle.

The imposter tried to trick people in two ways.

"He either pretends to be me, or uses me as a reference," Van Tighem said. "He'll call someone and say he's at the airport and needs money. He says that I'm on the other line and can vouch for him."

The mystery man also tried to get money by saying he was Van Tighem and because of an illness in the family, needed funds for travel to see the person.

Van Tighem said the RCMP have been notified about the attempted fraud.

Const. Roxanne Dreilich of the Yellowknife RCMP said they don't have an investigation file on the complaints.

"It's like a needle in a haystack type situation tracking these type of complaints," she said.

Dreilich added that most attempted fraud cases are sent to Phone Busters, an organization set up by the RCMP, Ontario Police Department and Government of Canada to track such complaints and launch warnings through its Web site.

Van Tighem said that people should learn a lesson from the mayor wannabe.

"Always think before you react," he said.

Dreilich said if you receive a call from someone seeking money, there's a golden rule.

"...Unless you are 100 per cent sure of the person's identity, don't part with your money."