Scammers pose as health officials

OLYMPIA – Warning to health care professionals with Washington licenses: Beware of scammers falsely claiming to represent the Washington State Department of Health – and don’t send money to anyone without being certain of the recipient’s identity.

That comes in the wake of at least two apparent attempts to defraud Washington providers. One attempt failed, but the other proved costly to a dentist.

In that case, the dentist received a call from someone spoofing the Department of Health’s telephone number, along with two bogus faxes. One claimed to be from the Department of Health. The other clai...