A phone scam is active in our area where the caller pretends to be an officer from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

The New Orleans Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration is issuing a critical alert to healthcare professionals, warning of recent scam calls targeting doctors and pharmacists. Fraudsters are impersonating DEA agents to steal sensitive information and possibly extort money.

Important: The DEA will NEVER call you

Please be aware that DEA personnel will never contact medical practitioners or members of the public by telephone to request personal or sensitive information, demand money or any other form of payment. Legitimate DEA agents will only notify individuals of investigations or legal actions in person or via official letter.

Common tactics used by scammers

According to the DEA’s press release, scam tactics continually change but often share many of the same characteristics:

• Use of names found online of well-known DEA officials, retired or former Special Agents and/or police officers in local departments.
• Providing fake badge numbers.
• Using an urgent and aggressive tone.
• Threatening arrest, prosecution, imprisonment and revocation of DEA registration.
• Referencing National Provider Identifier numbers and/or state license numbers when calling a medical practitioner.
• Claiming that patients are making accusations against the practitioner.
• Asking for personal information, such as social security number or date of birth.

Listen to a real scam call

The DEA has made available a recording of an actual impersonation attempt so you can hear these tactics firsthand. You can listen to this recording here.

If you receive a suspicious call

If you receive one of these calls, hang up immediately. You may report the incident to the FBI at: www.ic3.gov.

The Federal Trade Commission also provides recovery steps and takes reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

For more information, please read the DEA’s press release.