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Don’t Fall For It
He gives you a specific date and time that you signed receipt for a hand-delivered subpoena. The subpoena issued by the judge of the trial was for you to appear as a witness to a crime. He gives you the date that the trial had started and informs you that you are being held in contempt of court for failing to show up on the required date. Of course, you tell him that you have not signed receipt for any subpoena. You are then directed to come to the courthouse to verify that it is not your signature. “Sergeant Dorsey” tells you that the two bench warrants will be lifted once you have done so. He also instructs you that you are officially under a gag order not to discuss the trial.
Of most concern, “Sergeant Dorsey” tells you that you are not allowed to see any clients until you clear this off your state licensure. He provides a shield number 98413 and tells you that you must come immediately to the Monroe County Sheriff's office at 610 Monroe Street - the actual address of the Monroe County Sherriff’s Office - or he will send police to apprehend you. You are instructed to post $3000 cash as an “Assurity Bond” at the courthouse in order to clear your state licensure and credentials and if you can prove that the signature they have on file is not authentic, your cash will be returned.
“Sergeant Dorsey" sounds authoritative and authentic. This scam targets licensed health care professionals. Believing the situation was authentic, one of my colleagues canceled her clients for the rest of the day. She called the sheriff's office and was reassured by the warrants department that she was safe and there were no warrants out for her. She was also told that she was his third call of the day and the target is medical professionals.
Professional licenses are not under the purview of the police. Only the licensing board has the authority to forbid you from seeing clients or practicing. Only the licensing board can “clear” your state license and credentials. You should know the formal name of your licensing board and seek legal counsel if you do receive a communication from them. If you are being investigated for professional misconduct, it will be your licensing board you hear from, not the police. Ilene Bustos, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPC has given me permission to share this voice mail she received. Click here to Listen to the mp3.
Perform a license verification to assure yourself that nothing needs to be “cleared.” If you receive a call like this, record it if you can. Notify the police. Don’t fall for it. Spread the word. |
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