Oregon Medical Board Impersonators
The Oregon Medical Board has received reports of scammers contacting licensees, via telephone and email, claiming to be Board investigators. In some instances, scammers are able to replicate the OMB's phone number or email address. If you receive suspicious contact, do not provide any sensitive information. Oregon licensees may also contact the Board directly to confirm the legitimacy of a phone call; however, the OMB is not able to investigate or track these calls.
If you have been contacted by a scammer, the Oregon Medical Board urges you to visit the Federal Trade Commission website, at reportfraud.ftc.gov, to report your encounter. The Federal Trade Commission can't resolve individual reports, but does use the information to investigate and bring cases against fraud and scams.
DEA Impersonator Phone Scam
The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public, including the DEA registrant community, about criminals posing as DEA Special Agents, DEA Investigators, or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme.
The criminals call the victims (who in most cases previously purchased drugs over the internet or by telephone) and identify themselves as DEA agents or law enforcement officials from other agencies. The impersonators inform their victims that purchasing drugs over the internet or by telephone is illegal and that enforcement action will be taken against them unless they pay a fine. In most cases, the impersonators instruct their victims to pay the "fine" via wire transfer to a designated location, usually overseas. If victims refuse to send money, the impersonators often threaten to arrest them or search their property. Some victims who purchased their drugs using a credit card also reported fraudulent use of their credit cards. Another scheme involves criminals contacting doctors and pharmacists and stating that they are the subject of an investigation and demanding money to clear up the matter.
The public should be aware that no DEA agent will ever contact members of the public by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment.
Anyone receiving a call from a person claiming to be with DEA should report the incident to the FBI at www.ic3.gov. The Federal Trade Commission provides recovery steps, shares information with more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies and takes reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov. For any victims who have given personally identifiable information like a social security number to the caller, can learn how to protect against identity theft at www.identitytheft.gov.
For more information, visit the DEA Warning: Scammers Impersonating DEA Agents webpage.
Update: The OMB has received reports of similar phone scams involving FBI impersonators who claim licensees are at risk of losing their license. Please handle any suspicious calls with caution.