American Veterinary Medical Association Alert: Phone Scam

The AVMA wants the veterinary community to be aware of a possible telephone scam. Veterinarians and veterinary facilities have reported receiving calls requesting the following information:

• Names of all the veterinarians employed by the clinic/veterinary hospital
• Name of the clinic/veterinary hospital
• Hours of operation of the clinic/veterinary hospital

The callers may or may not identify themselves as representing the "National Veterinary Board". Reportedly, these callers are persistent and rude, and have even called several times looking for the information. When asked for what purpose the information was needed, the response is to "update their records".

After receiving such a call, when *69 was dialed to return the call to determine its origin, someone from a business (unrelated to veterinary medicine and not related to any veterinary board) in a city in Nevada answered and explained they have recently received several calls from veterinary hospitals asking if they were collecting information, which of course they are not.

A telephone company representative has commented that there is a way for someone with a cell phone to make it appear their call is being made from another number. Therefore, when *69 is dialed, the call goes to the "dummy" number and not to the actual number from which the scam call originated.

The AVMA recommends that if anyone receives such a call that they do NOT give out any information and that they call their local police department in case these scam callers are trying to find out information to better plan break-ins or other illicit activities.

Source: www.avma.org