FTC Warns of Fraudsters Scamming Attorneys, Other Professionals Via Emails
Accountants, attorneys, doctors and others who hold state licenses or certifications should be on the lookout for "official-looking" emails that warn professionals their licenses will be suspended unless they pay past due fees, but are designed to install malicious software,…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
said the FTC in a Wednesday blog post. The commission has been warning consumers about government imposter scams for years, but FTC senior attorney Lesley Fair wrote that scammers now send emails that say a complaint has been filed against professionals, prompting them to click a link that installs the malware on the consumer's computer. "Of course, State Bars and Boards regularly communicate with members via email -- and yes, we all have to pay our annual dues," she wrote. "But if the circumstance is so serious that a person’s professional license is on the line, the first they’ll hear about it won’t be in email like that." Fair recommended professionals call their bar or board directly using the phone number on a membership card. If it's a scam, professionals should report it to the FTC and warn others, she said.