The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs issued a warning to the public about phone scammers impersonating government officials to target dental professionals, according to a Nov. 20 news release from the agency.
Here are five things to know:
1. Phone scammers are targeting dental professionals, making false threats of investigations in order to obtain personal sensitive information from dentists.
2. The scammers are contacting current and former dental licensees, pretending to be state officials and government agencies. They then claim the Department of Health and Human Services is conducting an investigation into the professional's license.
3. In some cases, scammers are using Caller ID spoofing to make it appear that the call is coming from a legitimate government agency.
4. The Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to suspend or revoke a dental license or launch an investigation into a dental license.
5. Recent incidents have targeted dental professionals, but other medical professionals have been targeted by the scam this year.