Fraud Alert - Phone & Recruitment Scams

Fraudulent Patient Phone Calls

WakeMed has received reports from patients and members of the community about fraudulent phone calls involving our primary outgoing phone number (919-350-9500).

Fraud perpetrators can ‘spoof’ phone numbers to look like they are calling from a legitimate WakeMed phone number. These calls can be difficult to identify, and we urge members of the community to be cautious about providing personal information by phone.

If the call seems questionable, we suggest asking for a name and call-back number, then investigating the situation before calling back.

How We Contact Patients

In general, calls from WakeMed hospital locations and operators will come from 919-350-9500. This number is used to protect the privacy of our staff and clinicians. Please note:

• When this number is used, the caller ID should be listed as “WakeMed”.
• If an individual’s name appears on caller ID along with the 919-350-9500 number, it is not a legitimate call.

Phone calls from individual WakeMed Physician Practice locations come from different numbers.

• These calls will come from the individual practice phone number. These numbers can be found and verified on our website.
• For these calls, the caller ID should be listed as "WakeMed" – not the name of an individual or physician practice.

WakeMed also communicates by text message about appointments with patients who have opted in to receive these communications.

• These text messages will come from an SMS short code (73124) or the number 833-391-1835.
• Text messages may also be sent about completion of a survey regarding your care. None of these will ask for any personally identifiable information.

Recruitment Scams

Please be on the alert for recruitment scams and report any suspicious interactions you may have. The Federal Trade Commission and your state’s attorney general office have online reporting processes. This can help keep you from being victimized and stop these schemes from being perpetrated against others.

What is Recruitment Fraud?

While there are many types of recruitment fraud scams, the most common involve individuals being offered fake job opportunities at established companies. These scams are often initiated through online channels, including fake job postings, or unsolicited emails claiming to be from the company or individuals within the organization. The goal of these scams is to obtain personal information, and ultimately payments, from the victim, purportedly to process applications for jobs that do not exist.

Keep Yourself Safe from Recruitment Fraud

• Emails from WakeMed Human Resources recruiters will always come from an '@wakemed.org' email address.
• Fraud perpetrators can ‘spoof’ phone numbers to look like they are calling from WakeMed. Do not assume a call is from a legitimate WakeMed number.
• All legitimate WakeMed jobs are posted on our career websites (wakemed.org/careers, jobs.wakemed.org or wakemed.org/travel-staffing). Any communications about a job that is not currently on our website should be handled with extreme caution.
• WakeMed will NEVER ask you for processing fees, payments, or personal account information as part of the recruitment process.
• WakeMed will NEVER ask for personal bank account information as part of the recruitment process. Nor will they ever ask for bank information related to the purchase of supplies/equipment needed for the job.
• You should NEVER send money or provide bank account information to anyone suggesting they can secure employment with WakeMed.

If you suspect you have experienced recruitment fraud, please contact your local authorities.