AVMA warns veterinarians about e-mail fraud, offers 5 tips for scam-spotting

If you receive an e-mail about a “AVMA Pure Content Free Webinar,” don’t sign up—it’s a scam, the organization reports.

According to an alert issued by the AVMA, the fraudulent e-mail says the AVMA is “providing exclusive access” to the webinar and lists the AVMA headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. The e-mail is allegedly sent by the Veterinary Practice Resource Center (VPRC) and comes from this address: Veterinary_Practice_Center@mail.vresp.com. While VPRC is a real section of the AVMA site, that e-mail address isn’t an AVMA domain and the VPRC doesn’t send e-mails directly to members.

The AVMA says it’s investigating the source of the e-mail and will take appropriate resulting action. The organization also requests that recipients of suspicious-looking e-mail messages call (800) 248-2862 or e-mail avmainfo@avma.org.

In addition, here are five tips to help you spot a scam, courtesy of the AVMA.

1. Learn the legitimate sender’s addresses so you can recognize incorrect ones. (For example, anything you’d receive from the AVMA will have an AVMA domain.)

2. Be suspicious of consistent spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors. One error is human; many errors might equal a scam. The more mistakes you see, the more suspicious you should be.

3. Don’t click on links in suspicious e-mails or reply. If a message appears to be from your bank or credit company, contact the company using the information on your card or bank statement, or go directly to a verified website.


4. Banks, credit card companies, and so on will never ask you for your personal information via e-mail or text—neither will the AVMA.

5. Don’t open attachments from senders you don’t recognize or can’t verify.

For more information on protecting yourself from identity theft and other scams, visit onguardonline.gov.