TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) — A local dermatology office is sounding the alarm after a brazen attempt at a con job targeting medical professionals. A man called their office impersonating a DEA agent, which is an increasingly common scam targeting medical offices.
Watch our report in the video player below:
The scammer claimed to be a DEA agent named Daniel Patel and demanded to speak with doctors about an urgent matter, but an experienced office administrator recognized the red flags.
“Part of it was when he hung up, he said ‘God bless America,’” said Gladys Moore, a practice administrator at Affiliated Troy Dermatologists.
"The first one was in the morning asking for one provider and then after lunch time, I got another call from the exact same guy asking about one of my other doctors."
Moore, who has more than 30 years of experience, says this was the first scam call of this nature in her career. Her vigilance protected the practice from what could have been a costly fraud.
Moore described the caller as "very firm, very pushy." Instead of connecting him to the doctors, she took the man's information and alerted the DEA.
"So, I might get a call maybe twice a month from people all over the country about these DEA scams. And sometimes, they get cash from people — Target, iTunes, Amazon gift cards. They're just so rattled, they're willing to do whatever it takes to, quote on quote, get the feds off their back," DEA spokesperson Brian McNeal said.
McNeal explained that what makes these scams believable is that the culprits sometimes dig up a doctor's DEA registration number — which the agency provides to medical practitioners allowing them to prescribe drugs — and the scammers sometimes use the names of actual DEA employees to seem more credible.
"So usually, the way the scam works is they will say that registration number has been involved in some type of illegal activity and that you must pay a fine or you'll face arrest," McNeal said.
Watch our full interview with Brian McNeal in the video player below:
These so-called "fines" range anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000.
McNeal says these DEA impersonators don't just target doctors and people who prescribe drugs, they also go after regular everyday citizens.
"Where they get a call from someone saying they're with the DEA and that a rental car has been found on the border that was written in your name and it contains a ton of drugs and if you don't pay this fine, we're going to come after you and lock you up," McNeal said.
If you get a call from someone claiming to be from the DEA, know that if the agency wanted to contact you, they would show up at your door or send an official letter. So don't give any information over the phone. Instead, hang up and report the call to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
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