Physicians warned of identity theft tax scam For a second year, the California Medical Association (CMA) has received reports from physicians that fraudulent federal income tax returns have been filed using physician names, addresses and social security numbers. In many cases the fraudulent tax return includes the name of an unknown person listed as the physician's spouse. Generally, this other name is a prior patient of the physician. Affected physicians are likely to learn of the scam by receiving a 5071C letter from the IRS alerting them of possible fraud. Physicians may also have received a rejection ... April 29, 2015 General CPLH, Identity Theft, Legal Advocacy, Tax, California Physician Legal Handbook 0 0 Comment Read More »
Blue Shield data breach affects California doctors The Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has notified physicians of a data breach that disclosed the social security numbers as well as names, business addresses, telephone numbers, medical groups and practice areas of over 18,000 physicians who contract with Blue Shield of California. DMHC discovered that Blue Shield of California had inadvertently included physician social security numbers in public rosters provided to DMHC. These rosters are generally public documents and subject to disclosure under the Public Record Act (PRA). As a result, DMHC produced the rosters, including the social ... July 15, 2014 General Department of Managed Health Care, Identity Theft, Blue Shield 0 0 Comment Read More »
