With Annual Session 2023 in Chicago on the horizon, AAO members, as well as exhibitors and sponsors, should be aware of a common scam targeting the events industry involving fraudulent emails claiming to offer for sale “attendee lists” and other information. As previously reported by the AAO, some of these scammers have unfortunately targeted affiliates of the Association. Some have gone so far as to include the AAO logo in their messages to dupe unsuspecting recipients.

Please note that the AAO is not sending these communications, nor are the senders AAO partners or affiliates. Please also note that the AAO’s IT systems have not been compromised, and the email addresses included in disseminations of this nature have not been obtained from the Association. For more information on this scam, including how your email may have become included on a distribution list of this kind, see “An Investigation into Fake List Vendors” from industry publication Trade Show News Network.

Be advised:

  • 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.

AAO Members, if you still wish to review and/or make changes to the information you have authorized AAO to share regarding you and your practice (ex. on the public-facing Find an Orthodontist Locator or the Member-facing Member Directory), select the “Manage Membership” button on the AAO’s Membership webpage, or contact Member Services for assistance.

Annual Session attendees, please note that, when registering for some AAO events, you are given the option to opt-in to sharing your contact information with the event’s vendors and/or sponsors for the purpose of 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, an example of which follows:

FRAUDULENT EMAIL SAMPLE

Note, in the below sample message, the incorrect meeting information and poor grammar. Also, be on the lookout for senders using free email services (such as Gmail), have misspelt domain names in their address, or “work for a company” that simply does not exist. Avoid clicking any suspicious hyperlinks or downloading attachments from emails of this nature.  Do not follow any direction to “opt out” which requires replying to the sender.

Subject: RE: AAO Attendees Data Lists 2022

Hi,

Would you be interested to acquire Registered AAO Attendees Email Lists-2022?

Wishing you all the best for the American Association of Orthodontists 2022 !

List Includes:- Org-Name, First Name, Last Name, Contact Job Title, Verified Email Address, Website URL, Mailing Address, Phone Number, Fax Number, Industry and many more…

Number of Contacts : 16,365 Verified Contacts.

Cost                                 :  $1,792

Kindly let me know your thoughts so that we could discuss further.

Kind Regards,

Marketing Coordinator

If you do not wish to receive future emails from us, please reply as ‘leave out’