Financial Advisors: Protect Doctors from Scams and Fraud

If you are a financial advisor and want to have more conversations with doctors, join the conversations they are already having in their heads.

Doctors worry about theft and fraud and scams.

In this episode you will learn:

1. Why doctors are targeted by scammers.

2. What some common scams are

3. How you can deliver value as a financial advisor.

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Transcript

If you would like to have more conversations with more doctors, join the conversations they're already having in their heads.

I remember speaking with the editor of a financial publication for physicians, and she said, in every issue, we run an article about theft and fraud, this is what our doctors want to know about.

So do you talk with your doctor clients and prospects about how they can protect themselves against theft, fraud, and scams?

That's what we'll address today.

Welcome to the Engaging Doctors Podcast

If you're a financial advisor who wants to accelerate your business growth by attracting, engaging, and serving more doctor clients, you are in the right place.

I'm Dr. Vicki Rackner, your host. I'm a retired surgeon who has spent the past 15 years helping financial advisors crack the physician code and reach the doctors who want and need their help.

In this podcast episode, we'll address three questions.

First, why are doctors the targets of theft, scams, and fraud?
 Second, what kinds of scams are there out there?
 And third, what can you as an advisor do to protect your doctor clients from losses, from theft, scams, and fraud?

Personal Stories

Let me kick off this conversation with some personal stories.

Last year, I got a letter from the IRS. My heart pounded as I opened the letter.

It said:

"We received an income tax return form 1040 for the tax year using your name and social security number. To protect you from possible identity theft, we need to verify your identity before we process the income tax return, issue a refund, or credit any overpayments."

I complied with the IRS request to call them. I told them I had not yet filed my taxes for that year.

Well, the good news is that the IRS successfully identified a scammer. The bad news is that I had evidence that somebody out there had stolen my social security number and filed a fraudulent tax return.

I found this very upsetting. I even felt some shame. I thought I was careful. I wondered, What did I do wrong?

One of my financial advisor clients, Larry, reassured me. He said:

"Even if you do everything right, security breaches of businesses who know your social security number, like hospitals and insurance companies, make you vulnerable. Scammers are two steps ahead of honest people."

Then Larry said:

"The question you should be asking is not, What will I do if my social security number is stolen? It should be, What do I do when my social security number is stolen? Given enough time, it will happen to most people."

Another Scam Attempt

Then a few months later, I got a call from Immigration Services asking if I was expecting a package from Mexico.

I told him no. He went on to weave a tale about how this package addressed to me was filled with contraband. He laid out the potential criminal consequences for me.

Well, this was a credible story. I read an article about somebody who spent time in jail for his suspected role in receiving cocaine-filled packages from Columbia. He was later exonerated.

Then the agent asked me if I ever lived in Arizona. I told him that I had not.

He said:

"Well, I thought not, but when we went to the Arizona return address on the package, we found stolen credit cards, driver's licenses, and lists of stolen social security numbers. Look, you're a doctor. I doubt that you're part of some big crime ring. However, it doesn't look good for you."

He reminded me of the potential legal consequences to me of this situation and reassured me that he was reaching out to offer a helping hand. Could I potentially be a person who helped apprehend the scammers?

Well, I'm embarrassed to admit that I did not immediately recognize this call as a scam. Intellectually, I know that government agencies don't call. Still, I knew that my stolen social security number was out there.

At that moment that the scammer told me about the contraband package, I was no longer in my thinking brain or even my feeling brain. I was in my fight-or-flight reptile brain. Oh, those scammers were slick.

Finally, I took some deep breaths to re-regulate my nervous system, and reason kicked in.

I said:

"If you are who you say you are, you will understand my need for my lawyer and me to call you back at the phone number published on your website."

The scammer got very angry. He said that I was insulting the very people there to fight for him.

I simply hung up.

Of course, this was a scam.

Another Scam - Fake Trademark Call

Here's one last personal story.

Earlier this year, I applied for a trademark for The True Wealth Way. This is the name assigned to the intellectual property unveiled in my upcoming book and workbook about how doctors can create the lives that they want.

So my phone rang. I looked down, and the caller was identified as the USPTO.

How exciting to get an update from the United States Patent and Trademark Office! I picked up the call.

The caller identified herself as a USPTO verification officer. She said that pending the verification of information on my application, my trademark had been approved.

She walked through the items on my application form. She said:

"Congratulations. You are welcome to use the TM symbol on your materials. The final approval will take a few months, and then you can use another mark. All I need to do to complete the verification process is to collect the $25 fee, which I can take over the phone. Would you like to use Visa, MasterCard, or American Express?"

I told her:

"I don't give out my credit card information over the phone. Could you please direct me to the place on the USPTO site I could go to pay this fee?"

She said:

"Oh, no, we can only take payment over the phone, and it needs to be done in the next two days if you want to move forward with the application."

I said:

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do that. You could be a scammer."

She said:

"Look at your phone. It says the caller is the USPTO. Look at the phone number listed on the USPTO website."

I thanked her and hung up.

I called the lawyer who filed my trademark application, who said:

"I'm so glad you checked. The USPTO will never call you. You did the right thing by hanging up."

Yet another scam.

Fortunately, I did the right thing by simply not disclosing my credit card information.

Conclusion

On my cynical days, I think that the right thing to do is never answering my phone again.

So let's talk about why physicians are targeted by scammers, what some of the scams are, and how you, as a financial advisor, can deliver value by protecting your doctor clients from scams.