“Scammers are using the state dental board — an entity we are supposed to trust — to prey on dentists,” a CDA member-dentist recently reported.
The dentist, who asked to remain anonymous due to law enforcement’s ongoing investigation of the incident, is a victim of a sophisticated scam operation that targets dentists and other health care professionals. He was defrauded of significant savings, led to believe he was assisting in a joint investigation between the Dental Board of California and the FBI.
The set up
In September 2024, the dentist received a phone call that was identified on caller ID as the Dental Board of California. Dental board officials do not typically contact dentists by phone. However, since the dentist is a subject matter expert who reviews cases for the board, he occasionally does receive calls from the board, so the initial contact was unsurprising.
“The caller identified herself as Angela Lopez and told me she was a dental board investigator,” the dentist explained. “She then proceeded to tell me that my license would be suspended because it had been used in connection with drug-related activity on the border.”
Shocked by the accusation that he was involved in criminal activity and the threat of license suspension, the dentist was willing to do whatever it took to clear his name. So when “Angela Lopez” asked the dentist to speak with the FBI, he was quick to agree.
The operation
For the next week, the dentist spoke on the phone with both Lopez and an individual who posed as an FBI agent, from numbers that seemed to match on caller ID. In retrospect, the dentist realizes the scammers were well-rehearsed, noting, “They reinforced the trust I already had in the dental board. The FBI agent was intimidating and suspicious, but the dental board official seemed to believe my assertions of innocence and offered to help clear my name.”
In doing so, the individuals convinced the dentist to participate in what they claimed was an undercover investigation, helping to expose the real criminals and resolve the matter without any license suspension or legal battle. Feeling pressured by the threat to his reputation and livelihood, the dentist agreed to assist.
The scammers convinced the dentist that he shouldn’t tell anyone about his involvement in the investigation. “They even had me sign a nondisclosure document,” the dentist recalled. They provided a password he should use in future conversations to verify his identity and warned him that he should speak to them only if he had privacy in case a member of his staff was part of the criminal ring being investigated. The individuals contacted the dentist daily during his lunch hour and provided an itinerary for their meetings along with updates on the investigation.
“They were always completely professional,” the dentist said.
The result
Over several months, the scammers drained the dentist’s savings using the ruse that his transfers would be used to identify money laundering but would be held in safekeeping by the U.S. Treasury. In his final contact with the scammers, the dentist was instructed to report to his local police department for further direction. Only when the local police reacted in confusion did the dentist realize he’d been scammed. An in-person visit with the regional office of the FBI confirmed his suspicion.
Advice for avoiding scams
The dental board-impersonation scam was first reported in 2019, leading the board to post a fraud alert on its website. Since then, more dentists have been targeted. The fraudsters are often able to identify dentists’ correct license numbers and seem to have some knowledge of board-related activity.
Teresa Pichay, CHPC, a regulatory compliance analyst at CDA, cautions dentists to be very suspicious of any callers identifying themselves as dental board investigators. “The dental board never starts investigations with a phone call,” she says.
Pichay advises dentists to follow the instructions in the board’s alert:
- Contact the board directly by phone (877.729.7789) or email to inquire if an official investigation is being conducted.
- Do not disclose any personal information, such as Social Security number, date of birth or debit card number.
- If the caller appears to have a dental board phone number, consider submitting a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
“In a high-pressure situation, take a breather,” Pichay says, noting that scammers can spoof any phone number and frequently use tactics of urgency or intimidation to put their victims under pressure to act. “Scammers need you to be scared and reactive. Instead of responding immediately to the threat, say you need time to consider the situation, then get off the phone.”
The dentist who shared his experience with CDA agrees. “I realize now that instead of responding to coercion on the phone, I should have just hung up or told them I would speak to my attorney before proceeding,” he acknowledged. Removing himself from the conversation and taking the time to verify the investigation or reaching out to CDA’s team of specialized analysts for one-on-one guidance could have saved the dentist time, stress and money.