(Juneau, AK) – The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing (CBPL), is warning professional licensees and the public about criminals posing as licensing board investigators or other law enforcement personnel as part of a scheme to defraud professional licensees. The licensees targeted in this scheme are those who hold a healthcare license and a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration.

The scammers will call the victim – who in most cases holds a professional license in the State of Alaska – and advise them that their professional license is suspended because they are suspected of drug trafficking. They will further inform the licensee that they are the main suspect of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) drug trafficking investigation. Official-looking – though fraudulent – letters may also be provided to the licensee. The licensee’s professional license number and DEA registration number will be verified by the criminal asking the victim a series of questions. Impersonators will generally threaten the victim with arrest and time in jail if they do not cooperate with the “investigation” and agree to pay a fine or bond. They may also request the licensee meet them at a location that is not a government office in an attempt to collect payment.

“This effort to extort health care providers is adding insult to an already injured workforce,” said CBPL Director Sara Chambers. “Physicians, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and other Alaska prescribers are already under an immense amount of stress. This cowardly and dangerous scare is absolutely one more pressure our hard-working health care providers did not need.”

The CBPL Investigations unit will never call a member of the public or a licensee demanding money. Anyone receiving a telephone call or suspicious letter from a person purporting to be a State of Alaska professional licensing board investigator or other law enforcement official seeking money should immediately report the contact to the FBI, DEA, their local law enforcement agency, or the CBPL Investigations unit at (907) 269-8124 or email investigations@alaska.gov.

CBPL’s mission is to ensure that competent, professional, and regulated commercial services are available to Alaska consumers. For more information, visit https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/cbpl.

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  Alaska, fbi, health, licensees, providers, scam