Scam Alert
Published on Apr 5, 2024
The Virginia Board of Dentistry has learned of scammers attempting to defraud licensees across the state of Virginia by posing as Department of Health Profession Investigators and/or the Executive Director. Unfortunately, these types of scams are active nationally and target professionals in all fields.
Scammers typically contact the licensee by telephone at their workplace. Scammers may incorporate some of the following:
- Use a “spoofed” telephone number that looks like it is a call being received by the Virginia Board of Dentistry on your caller ID to make the call appear legitimate.
- Sending documents using the Executive Director’s name and/or Department of Justice’s information. Carefully review documents: The documents frequently have misspellings and bad grammar, state the “Department of Health” instead of “Department of Health Professions”
- Identifying themselves as someone from “Virginia Department of Health Professions” of “Virginia Board of Dentistry” investigator or something similar
- Falsely stating that they are going to suspend your license, unless you pay them money or provide personal information
- Creating a sense of urgency to encourage prompt compliance with their demands or becoming verbally aggressive when you ask questions or challenge their statements.
The Board of Dentistry will never call you to tell you that the Board will be suspending your license. The Board of Dentistry will also never call you and demand money or personal information to prevent suspension of your license.
If you receive a phone call and you think it may be fraudulent, there are some steps to take to protect yourself:
- Tell the caller you need to call them back and hang up; then call 804-367-4538 to speak to the Board of Dentistry to verify that your license is in good standing.
- You may call the Enforcement Division of the Department of Health Professions at 804-367-4691 to verify if you are under investigation and to verify the investigator’s name.
- Report the communication to law enforcement or state police
- The Federal Trade Commission also accepts reports about “Imposter Scams” through the FTC Complaint Assistant, or at 1-877-382-4357. These reports are used to aid ongoing investigations
- The Drug Enforcement Administration also has warned of imposters posing as DEA agents. Information and reporting of these scams can be found at this DEA website
Definitely share this information with your colleagues so that they are aware of these type of scams.
