ATTENTION: SCAM ALERT

Recently, boards of medicine across the country have been alerted to various scams. In one scam, a board’s main telephone number was “spoofed” or mimicked, and licensees were subjected to threatening phone calls. In another case, an attempt was made to extort money as the person was threatened with an investigation.  

The Board has been notified that licensees have been receiving spoofed calls purporting to be from the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine or the West Virginia Board of Medicine alerting licensees of a 24 hour license suspension.

Please be advised that the Board will never initiate telephone contact with you to notify you of a license suspension.  As a general rule, the Board does not impose 24 hour suspensions, and all disciplinary action is memorialized in writing, with copies provided to the affected licensee.  Additionally, you can check the status of a license by using the licensee search feature.  All suspensions are reported on the website in real time.

Also, the Board will never ask you to pay a fine or fee via telephone.  While fines are rare, all fines issued by the Board occur after a complaint has been docketed and a written order imposing the fine has been issued and sent to the licensee’s address of record with the Board.

Please also be aware of other scams which attempt to invoke public institutions.  Recently, the Board has been made aware of one such telephone scam which seeks to invoke the court system to target health care and other professionals.  The Board encourages licensees to maintain vigilance and independently verify any phone, text or email communication which appears suspicious, especially when it purports to be from a public agency or institution and requests payment of an unknown or unexpected fine, fee or debt. 

If you believe you were the target of a scam, here are some steps you can take:

• If the scam relates to prescribing, prescription pads or controlled substance medications, report the contact to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Control Division.

• If the scammer claims to be associated with the Board, contact the West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine at (304) 558-6095 or contact us on our website: Contact Us

• Contact the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office at (304) 558-2021.

• Submit an online complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) using the FCC’s Consumer Complaint form