The pharmacist’s cell phone rang as she was preparing prescriptions.
The Caller ID said the call was coming from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. For a pharmacist, getting a call from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy “is like the police calling you,” she said.
The caller said that her pharmacist license had been linked to a narcotics investigation in Texas and there was a warrant out for her arrest.
Her license – which pharmacists need to work – was at risk, the caller said. She would need to post a $500,000 bond or work with the FBI to clear her name. She needed to leave the pharmacy right away to get this handled, she was told.
Over a three-month period, she was terrified and followed the directions of people she thought were agents with the pharmacy board and other authorities.
The targeted pharmacist has asked that her real name not be used since she is still afraid of her scammers. USA TODAY has confirmed the pharmacist’s identity, her complaint with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and also has reviewed some of the elaborately doctored documents and phone recordings she provided chronicling the scam. USA TODAY has agreed to provide the pharmacist anonymity and will refer to her as “Sally.” USA TODAY also reached out to the FBI, which the pharmacist said she contacted, but the agency’s practice is not to confirm or comment on an investigation.
A representative of the pharmacy board confirmed to USA TODAY that the pharmacist had filed a complaint and that the board works closely with authorities when they receive complaints of scams.
“Her story was really heart-wrenching, just the amount of money she lost,” said Cameron McNamee, the board’s director of policy and communications.
The scammers convinced the pharmacist to move her savings and retirement savings –$500,000 – into a “protected account” and to take out two loans totaling $250,000.
In reality, the funds were not being protected, but were being transferred directly to her scammers.
Losses from scams in the U.S. have tripled
Scams overall are on the rise. A new study by Feedzai, a company that helps financial institutions manage their fraud, and the Global Scam Alliance, said nearly 23% of Americans lost more than $159 billion to scams in 2023.
The average victim lost $2,663 and 62% did not report their scam encounters, according to the State of Scams report. Monthly, 73% of Americans encounter scams. Sixty-nine percent of survey respondents said they were very confident they could recognize scams, yet 89% of that group said they fell prey to those scams.
What’s really changed is the evolution of scams, said Jas Anand, a Feedzai senior fraud executive who leads the North American fraud team.
“This is where consumers themselves are victimized by criminals,” said Anand. Scams where the criminals hack into an account still happen, but the scammers are now sometimes directly targeting the consumer, he said.
“You’re seeing a lot more scams-related fraud where the consumer is actually providing credentials or authenticating themselves and then moving the money… which therefore bypasses any authentication controls that financial institutions could have in place,” Anand said. “They’re being duped by the criminals into believing they’re interacting with a legitimate third party or a bank,” Anand said.
While all consumers can be and are targets of scammers, people who have specialized licenses that are required for their work and who have higher-paying jobs – so more money to steal – such as doctors, pharmacists and Certified Public Accountants can be specifically targeted, he said.
The element of secrecy and urgency is also common, said Anand.
Victims are told not to tell their bank why they’re withdrawing money or “they’ll actually coach the individuals on what to say if they are confronted,” he said.
“Very commonly they’ll add urgency to the situation,” he added, saying ” ‘If you can’t pay by a certain time, we’re going to send the police over. You’re going to get arrested.’ Whatever they can do to scare you.”
‘I was completely undone by this’
That’s what happened to Sally. The caller had her name, home address, employer and pharmacy license number – all publicly available information – then combined those details with a threat that she was implicated in criminal activity.
“I was in complete terror mode,” Sally said of the phone call she received in the fall. “My only infraction in my life was a speeding ticket in 2002. I have never had issues professionally.”
Sally, 65, was planning on retiring the following month.
“I am usually a calm, measured, logical person no matter what the situation, but I was completely undone by all this all at once,” she said.
For the next three months, Sally was intimidated to not tell anyone – including anyone else at the Ohio Board of Pharmacy or relatives – that anything was wrong. She was sent documents that looked like they were coming from the FBI and other authorities. She saw a dark SUV several times either driving by her house or following her, she thought because the FBI was protecting her. She now thinks it was probably a call to a driving service to drive by and keep up the ruse.
As Anand said often happens with victims, Sally was coached on the phone on what to tell people at the bank, and there were several times the scammers told her to keep them on the phone while she opened accounts and transferred crypto currency.
There would be glimmers of hope; an “agent” would tell her some people were taken into custody related to her identity theft. She felt she was making progress.
After three months, Sally’s breaking point was when the scammers – who already had taken her for $750,000 – said they’d need another $350,000 for a bond in all 50 states.
Sally told them she had no more money; they had it all.
“I was feeling suicidal,” she said. That evening at a family dinner, she confided in a family member. She began to formulate an exit plan.
“I had been so gripped in fear that none of my logic was firing. It was horrifying to realize the financial peril I was in and not sure of the level of physical safety I had,” Sally wrote in detailed notes she later put together for the real authorities.
Sally said her demeanor changed the next time she spoke to the scammers. She didn’t let on that she knew they had been scamming her; but said she had no more access to money. The scammers began to change their story and said they were working to reduce the bond and additional money that would be needed.
Sally told the callers that she wasn’t feeling well and had to go to the emergency room. She stopped responding to calls and texts and turned her phone off. She reported the incidents to her local sheriff’s office. She went to stay at her late mother’s house, which she co-owns with a sister.
She closed her bank accounts and froze her credit reports.
After about a month of not returning calls or texts, Sally said the scammers stopped, probably figuring that she was no longer going to participate.
In addition to local authorities, Sally notified the real state pharmacy board. She has filled out some paperwork for the FBI, but has gotten no updates. USA TODAY received this statement from the Cleveland FBI: “The FBI does not confirm or deny, or otherwise provide updates, on specific investigations. This would include describing investigative steps we may or may not have taken, interviews we may or may not have conducted, and information we may or may not have learned. As a general matter, allegations of criminal conduct are reviewed by the FBI for their merit, but such a review does not necessarily result in the opening of a full investigation.”
Ohio Board of Pharmacy alerts pharmacists to scams
When Sally contacted the real Ohio Board of Pharmacy through its website, she verified the identity of staffers who contacted her before reporting the crime.
The board has been sending out alerts warning its statewide network of pharmacists about scams since 2019, said McNamee. The latest was sent in February.
The board started noticing more reports of extortion scams where scammers were impersonating federal agencies and agencies such as the pharmacy board or state medical board, said McNamee.
“We were getting calls from people saying ‘Is this you?’ and we said ‘We would never act in that way,’ ” he said. “We were concerned, particularly with older pharmacists, or people who could be vulnerable, like a lot of older adults.”
Since 2021, the board has had 30 reports of people who have questioned whether a call they have gotten is a scam. They believe only two to three have actually been victimized. Sally’s case is the worst the board has seen in their state, McNamee said.
Aftermath of the scam
The scammers have financially ruined Sally, she said.
“I was exhausted to begin with,” she said. “Financially, it’s a complete disaster.”
“I’m not going to be retired for a while. I may have to go into bankruptcy. It’s a big mess,” she said.
“I take it a day at a time. Some days are easier.”
The divorced mother of two grown children said she’s not sure if she’ll have anything for her children to inherit. She also is unsure where she’ll live.
She’s got about $38,000 left in her savings account. But she wiped out her retirement savings and is still on the hook for $250,000 in loans. She also still has some mortgage payments left on her house.
She’s also unsure how large her tax bill will be since she took her retirement savings out early.
“It’d be bad enough just to lose the money, but to be taxed on it and lose it,” she said. “It’s the trifecta of a bad, bad thing.”
She will likely need to move to her late mother’s house.
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Sally wanted to share her story as a warning to others. She knows the likelihood she will recover any of her money is slim.
“I just want to make people aware of this elaborate scam,” she said. People in her age group, she said, are particularly susceptible.
“You’re older and you’re single and you’re kind. It’s an important story to get out because I think it can save somebody.”
How can you protect yourself from scams?
Here are some tips from Anand and the FBI to protect yourself:
- Phone numbers can easily be faked or spoofed. Even if the number matches one you know or that is programmed into your phone, don’t assume the call is really coming from that number. Hang up and call the number you know – and not one the caller gives you.
- It is better to have an online presence than none at all. Some people don’t want to be online or aren’t comfortable, like senior citizens, said Anand. But having some internet presence is good so you can be alerted to any fake profiles or suspicious activity.
- If you are being asked to move money to “protect it” or to buy gift cards, be suspicious. “If they’re playing on your fears and insecurities, especially with urgency, that should be a definite warning.”
- If you’ve been the victim of a scam, be careful of follow-up scammers offering “recovery services.” Once you’re a victim, you’re targeted for further scams, Anand said.
- Artificial intelligence are making scams easier. AI technology can be used to clone voices familiar to you to trick you into thinking someone is in trouble. Scammers can also use AI to produce realistic documents that are part of their scheme.
- Don’t be duped by official-looking documents. Consumers should always try to verify questionable correspondence with a government agency or member of law enforcement by a separate means—such as contacting them directly using information found on an official website, not one on the correspondence sent, the FBI said. Scammers create false-front websites made to look like a government site.
- Stop and report the crime. Consumers who are asked to wire, pay, or transport large amounts of cash or crypto currency to avoid arrest, jail time, or fix a tech support or some type of business-related account issue should cease communications, and instead contact the FBI directly by filing a report online at the Internet Crime Complaint Center (https://www.ic3.gov).
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.