HJBR Mar/Apr 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAR / APR 2021 47 Carrie LeBlanc Jones Chief Legal Officer / General Counsel Louisiana State Board of Nursing THERE HAVE BEEN reports frommultiple sources that indicate criminals imperson- ating law enforcement agencies and reg- ulatory boards advised victims that they were under investigation. In one instance the, medical provider was contacted by an unknown individual who stated the medical provider’s license was suspended. The provider was also sent fraudulent documents from the licens- ing board and U.S. Department of Justice instructing the provider to wire money to avoid legal action. In another instance, a medical provider returned a phone call that was made to her place of employment. The caller claimed to be from the licensing board and stated the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wanted to suspend the professional license. The caller contacted the medical professional multiple times asking for bank account information. An- other provider received fraudulent docu- ments from the state licensing board and the FBI containing the provider’s license number, claiming the license had been suspended and indicated that a refundable bond was due to ensure the provider’s co- operation with the authorities. In the above-described schemes, the criminals knew the medical providers’ in- formation such as name, phone number, license number, etc. The criminals also used multiple methods to contact victims, including mail and telephone. The FBI identified the following best practices for healthcare professionals to identify related suspicious activities and similar scams: • Be wary of requests from alleged law enforcement agencies or regulatory entities requesting money or other forms of payment regarding investi- gations; • Verify the authenticity of communi- cation from alleged regulatory board officials or alleged law enforcement through known means such as offi- cial websites for phone numbers or physical office locations. In addition, independently contact the respective entity/agency to confirm the identity of those contacting you; • Do not provide personal identifying information (such as Social Securi- ty number or date of birth), financial information or professional informa- tion (such as license numbers) in re- sponse to suspicious emails, letters or phone calls. Luckily, none of these scenarios above involved Louisiana nurses. However, the board encourages Louisiana nurses to be mindful of potential criminal activity. The LSBNdoes not ask licensees towiremoney, post bonds or to provide personal banking information. We communicate to licensees via the Nurse Portal as well as their official address, telephone number and email ad- dress of record, all of which can be updat- ed in the Nurse Portal. If you believe that you are the victim of a mass-marketing fraud scam, please contact your local law enforcement. n Carrie LeBlancJones leads the Legal Division at LSBN and serves as the agency’s general counsel and chief legal officer.In addition to the LSBN,Jones has repre- sented the Pharmacy Board, Dental Board and CPA Board. In the legal community,Jones is amember of the LouisianaAttorney Disciplinary Board (which she chaired in 2017),the Louisiana State BarAssociation, the Baton Rouge Bar Association and the Bar Asso- ciation of the Fifth Federal Circuit.She also serves on the Louisiana BarJournal Editorial Board and on the Louisiana Bar Foundation’s CapitalArea Community Partnership Panel. Jones received a juris doctorate and Bachelor of Civil Law from LSU Paul M. Hebert LawCenter,Master of BusinessAdministration from LSU and Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from LSU. “THE LSBN DOES NOT ASK LICENSEES TO WIRE MONEY, POST BONDS OR TO PROVIDE PERSONAL BANKING INFORMATION.”