The Dental Board of California warned California dental professionals that scam artists have been calling practices posing as board staff as part of an attempted fraud scheme.
According to an alert from the board, the callers identify themselves as board staff members or investigators, notify the California licensee that they are under investigation for drug trafficking by the board and other entities including local police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and/or the FBI, and demand money.
The callers may be spoofing the board’s telephone numbers to make the calls appear to be coming from the board.
The Dental Board of California reminds California licensees that board staff members and investigators will never contact them demanding money or payment of any form without conducting an official investigation or inquiry. The board advises practices that receive a call to refuse the demand for payment.
The board also requests that those who receive a call contact the board directly to inquire if an official investigation is being conducted. If the caller is stating they are from the DEA, the scam should be reported to the DEA using the DEA Extortion Scam online reporting form.
If the phone number the caller uses appears to be from a board telephone number, an online complaint can be filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) using the FCC Consumer Complaint form.
