GPs have been warned to keep a close eye on their inboxes after scammers began impersonating senior figures from the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA).
The organisation issued a phishing alert over fraudulent emails purporting to come from WONCA officers and other members of its leadership.
The warning was the third from the world primary care body in as many years. The messages in the current alert tended to follow a familiar script, WONCA said in a statement.
“The fraudulent messages we have seen typically create an urgent personal situation – for example involving travel, illness, an airport problem or another emergency – and then ask the recipient to contact an unfamiliar telephone or WhatsApp number, provide assistance, or transfer money,” it said.
“Some messages have requested payment through money-transfer services and promised reimbursement later.”
WONCA said one of the simplest ways to spot a fake was to look beyond the name displayed in the inbox and check the sender’s actual email address.
An unfamiliar address – particularly a free personal email account supposedly belonging to a senior WONCA figure – should set alarm bells ringing.
So too should unexpected requests for money, gift cards, passwords, or personal and financial information.
WONCA advised recipients not to reply to suspicious messages or use the contact details they contained, and to steer clear of links and attachments.
“If you are uncertain whether a message relating to WONCA is legitimate, please contact the WONCA Secretariat through your usual contact details. We will be happy to verify it with you,” the organisation said.
Suspect messages should be reported as phishing through the recipient’s email provider and then deleted.
Anyone who had already taken the bait, whether by replying, clicking a link, opening an attachment, handing over information, or transferring money, should contact their organisation’s IT support as soon as possible, WONCA said.
Related
WONCA also asked members and partner organisations to spread the warning to colleagues, as the scam might not be confined to people who had already received a suspicious email.
The warning came 16 months after a similar one issued by WONCA ahead of its annual conference.
As reported by The Medical Republic in May 2025, the scam emails were made with the intention to impersonate trusted members of the WONCA 2025 Scientific Committee and the WONCA secretariat.
Claims to offer discounted flights and hotel bookings to the WONCA World Conference in Lisbon were used as covers to request transfers of money to a personal bank account.
This followed a similar phishing scam happening last year in the lead up to the organisation’s 2024 conference in Dublin.
For the full current safety alert, see here.
The post WONCA warns GPs: don’t take the bait appeared first on Medical Republic.
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