Caller ID Spoofing Scam Alert

Texas Board of Nursing (BON or Board) staff received a message from a nurse about a phone call they received where the Caller ID listed the caller as the Texas Board of Nursing and the phone number listed on the Caller ID was (512) 305-7400. 

The scammer stated that they were with the BON, verified the nurse’s first and last name, and license number.  The scammer stated that there has been unusual activity on the nurse’s license, and the scammer needed to verify the unusual activity with the nurse. The nurse told the scammer that they would have to call the Board back to verify that the call was legitimate, then ended the call.  The nurse later called the BON and determined that the call had been a scam and that their license had no “issues”. 

This type of Caller ID Spoofing is a very old scamming technique.   It can be done from any phone system that can manipulate the outgoing Caller ID and there are millions of phone systems around the world where the Caller ID may be changed by the person making the call. 

When notified concerning this attempted scam, Board staff reported the call to the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR).  DIR investigated the call and determined that there was insufficient information to proceed with investigating the case since there are millions of phones whose sender Caller ID information can be changed by the user.

The nurse who was contacted by the scammer made the correct choice, ended the call, and phoned the BON to confirm that the Board had not attempted to contact the nurse concerning some “unusual activity”.  Nurses are encouraged to remail vigilant when suspicious call(s) are received and reach out to the BON independently if contacted in this manner.