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The Washington State Department of Health’s Office of Health Professions (OHP) has become aware of ongoing scams targeting licensed health professionals. These scams involve fraudulent communications that appear to come from OHP staff, often using names of real employees and e-mail addresses that closely resemble official DOH e-mail addresses.

What You Need to Know:

• These messages may request personal information, payment, or sensitive documentation under the pretense of licensing issues, investigations, or disciplinary action.
• The e-mails may appear legitimate, using logos, formatting, and staff names to impersonate official communications from the Department of Health.
• In some cases, professionals have received phone calls or letters that also appear to be from DOH or OHP.

What to Watch For:

• E-mail addresses that are similar, but not identical to official DOH e-mail addresses (e.g., extra characters or slight misspellings). Our e-mail addresses will have a period between the first and last name and will end in @doh.wa.gov. Here is an example: jane.smith@doh.wa.gov
• Unsolicited requests for banking information or payment of license fees.
• Threats of disciplinary action or license suspension unless immediate action is taken.
• Poor grammar, formatting errors, or suspicious attachments/links.

See examples recently received by Washington dentists here.

What You Should Do:

• Do not respond to suspicious messages.
• Do not click on any links or open attachments from unknown or questionable senders.
• Verify any communication by contacting the Office of Health Professions directly at the OHP customer service line at 360-236-4700.

Scammers Continue to Target Licensees

Licensees continue to report being victimized by scam callers claiming to represent the Pharmacy commission or another government agency.

Techniques used by these individuals include:

A caller claims a licensee is under investigation by the commission, the Department of Health, the DEA, the FBI, or another government agency. In some cases, the caller also warns of discipline unless the licensee pays a “fine.”

• A caller warns a licensee not to report the call to anyone “or else you will jeopardize the investigation.”
• A caller requests a licensee’s cell phone number.
• A caller gives a fake call-back number.
• A caller spoofs the commission’s phone number. This happens when your caller ID screen falsely shows an incoming call is from the commission.

These calls are scams! In many cases, callers are attempting to extort money or elicit sensitive information – e.g., license numbers, DEA registration numbers, etc. – from licensees.

What can you do to protect yourself? Licensee security is important to the commission. Be aware of these tips:

• If you have any doubts or questions about someone claiming – by phone or in person – Call the Department of Health at 360-236-4700.
• If a scam caller claims to represent the DEA or the FBI, report the call to the DEA's Extortion Scam reporting program or the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center..
• If a scam caller’s phone number appears to be a commission phone number, report the scam using the Federal Communications Commission’s consumer complaint form..