FBI Warns of Recent Medical License Scams
By Brian Davis

Physicians are being targeted in a widespread fraud scheme in which bad actors target or threaten a practitioner’s medical license, the FBI warns.

According to the FBI, scammers use tailored language to accuse medical practitioners of having an expiring medical license or claim their license was used in the commission of a crime. The scammers threaten to revoke the practitioner’s license and compel the practitioner to pay to renew their license or protect their professional reputation. 

From January 2025 to July 2026, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 3,322 complaints about this type of fraud, with reported monetary losses totaling more than $37 million.

The Texas Medical Association encourages physicians and administrative staff to watch for:

• Urgency or pressure. Scammers want you to react before you have time to think. A sudden demand for immediate action or payment should be a warning sign.
• Requests to break normal rules or processes. Be suspicious when someone asks you to provide a multifactor authentication (MFA) code, install software, send an unusual payment, or buy gift cards.
• Unexpected contact. Be cautious with calls, texts, emails, invoices, password resets, document-sharing requests, or login prompts you weren’t expecting.

Physicians can take additional steps to safeguard their own personal information or information about their medical license or practice:

• Verify the caller by asking for credentials and checking them against publicly available information to confirm any claimed law enforcement affiliation. Don’t let them verify you by revealing personal information.
• Use trusted channels, such as phone lines or known apps. If unsure, hang up, close the message, or stop the conversation.
• Don’t rely on appearances. Caller ID, email addresses, logos, names, and voices can all be spoofed or recreated.
• Protect your credentials. Never provide a password or MFA code to someone who contacts you. An MFA request you didn’t initiate should be treated as suspicious.
• Ask for help. If something seems unusual, contact your IT or security staff before acting.

TMA offers information regarding common scams, and physicians can access cyber counsulting services and cyber liability coverage from the Texas Medical Liability Trust.