Is this expert real?
Someone says they're a nurse, a doctor, a therapist, a lawyer or a financial advisor, or a website says it's a pharmacy. Here's exactly where to check, on the official site, in about a minute.
Free, no sign-up. Picking a job and state happens on your phone. If you type a name for a health job, it goes through our server to the federal NPI Registry and back. We don't save it.
A match doesn't mean it's them
Scammers borrow real people's names and license numbers. A license on the board's site only proves that license exists.
- Ask for their full name as licensed, the license number and the state. A real professional won't mind. Then search the board yourself.
- Reach them through a phone or address you found yourself, like their clinic's or firm's website, not the number in the message.
- Gift cards or crypto to book you is a scam sign. A Zelle deposit isn't proof either way, but scammers like it because it can't be pulled back. Pay a deposit by card, through the business's own site, when you can.
Words that sound like credentials
- "Dr." can be a medical doctor, a PhD, a chiropractor, a naturopath or an honorary title. Ask which.
- "Board-certified": ask "which board?" For doctors, check it on Certification Matters.
- "Certified" can mean a weekend course. Ask who certified them, then look for that group's own directory.
- "Licensed" means a state license with a number. If they can't give the number and state, it isn't one.
- "Coach", "consultant", "advocate", "mentor": no license exists for these. That's fine, but they can't give medical, legal or investment advice that needs one.
Are you the real expert? Show it first
Fakes copy real nurses, therapists and advisors. With Copycat Watch, your "Is this really me?" page gets a verified license line: our RN reviewer checks your license on the board's own site, writes down the status and expiry, and checks it again every month. If it ever lapses, the line comes off until it's fixed. Nobody has to take your word for it.
It comes with the Setup package and Monthly Watch. Licenses we check: any state board with a public lookup.
Someone is using a title they don't hold?
Tell the board that licenses that job in their state. Every board's site has a complaint or "unlicensed activity" link. In Florida, health jobs go to the Department of Health's unlicensed activity page.
Lost money? Call your bank first, then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
We point you to official public records; we don't run background checks, and this isn't a consumer report, so don't use it to decide on a job, a lease, credit or insurance. A missing record isn't proof someone is lying (names change, and not every license is online), and a record isn't proof the person you're talking to is the one in it. Not legal advice.