AAO Warns of Scams Targeting Members

The AAO is warning members, exhibitors, and sponsors attending the 2022 Annual Session to be aware of scam emails.

With Annual Session 2022 in Miami Beach on the horizon, the American Association of Orthodontists is warning its members, exhibitors, and sponsors, of a scam involving fraudulent emails claiming to sell attendee lists and other information.

The AAO says that some of these scammers have targeted affiliates of the association. Some have gone so far as to include the AAO logo in their messages to dupe unsuspecting recipients.

The AAO clarified that it is not sending these communications, nor are the senders AAO partners or affiliates.

The AAO says that its IT systems have not been compromised, and email addresses included in the scam were not obtained from the association.

If you receive an attendee list scam email, do not interact with the sender and follow your organization’s procedure for reporting spam.

If emails continue, you may also wish to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by going to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

If AAO members wish to review and make changes to the information, they have authorized AAO to share, select the “Manage Membership” button on the AAO’s membership webpage, or contact member services for assistance.

When registering for some AAO events, members are given the option to share contact information with the event’s vendors and sponsors for direct marketing communications.

Any attendee information shared via this opt-in method contains only that of individuals who specifically provided their contact information for that purpose.

Any communications resulting from the sharing of that info with vendors or sponsors should look substantially different than those messages typical of the attendee list scam, according to the AAO.