New Scam in Washington Poses as Health Department

A new scam is making the rounds around Washington; this time, it’s a little different than the others. It involves the medical industry, but instead of targeting regular people and possible patients of doctors claiming they owe money, this new scam is targeting the healthcare professionals.

How the Washington Medical Scam Works

I first heard rumblings about this when one of my former co-workers gave me the heads up about my phlebotomy license renewal, and a possible scam that may pop up.

Considering my renewal occurs in October, this definitely made me pay attention.
Then an email from the Washington State Department of Health was sent out warning health care professionals.

Washington State DOH Issues Official Warning

“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 email addresses that closely resemble official DOH email addresses.” – DOH.WA.Gov

The message (via letters, texts, or even phone calls) may appear to be legitimate, request personal information and money, and may even threaten fees unless handled immediately.

One of the trickier practices of this scam is where the scammer will warn you not to contact anyone else, or else you could “jeopardize the investigation.”

How to Stay Safe from Medical License Scams

You know what to do. Don’t give money, don’t give personal information, delete or hang up. If you are worried that the issue might be true, reach out to your trusted organization. Do not contact any numbers or emails that they provide.

You can get the full breakdown of this scam by visiting the Department of Health’s Bulletin on this matter.

READ MORE: What Might Kill You In Washington? Here Is A List of 9 Things!

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