ALERT: Licensees, Applicants Scammed by Individuals Claiming to be CSLB

Licensees who are about to renew their current license, or those who are applying or plan to, should be aware that a licensing scam has been uncovered. At least one company claiming to be CSLB has been contacting applicants and licensees, asking for credit card information over the phone for additional license renewal, licensing exam or continuing education fees.

There is no such thing as a continuing education fee to renew a license. A list of all license fees is available on CSLB's website.

In the last month, CSLB has begun including this warning information in licensee renewal packets and has issued several alerts to licensees and potential applicants in an attempt to foil the fraud. "We've discovered that information from CSLB's website is being used to contact licensees or applicants to mislead and scam them," said CSLB Registrar Steve Sands. "The caller leads the licensee or applicant to believe he or she needs to immediately pay money as part of the licensing process."

Be aware that CSLB staff never asks for credit card information over the phone, nor do they process any payment over the phone. CSLB fees only are payable through the mail via check or money order, or at CSLB headquarters via cash, check, money order or credit card.

CSLB makes public the name and address of every accepted (posted) application for a license on the day following acceptance at CSLB's office in Sacramento (per Business and Professions Code section 7080.5). Since technology now permits the electronic posting of these lists, CSLB makes them available on its website. These lists are used in the course of business by many legitimate companies, including bond companies and license assistance companies.

CSLB applicant information will not appear until the application has been "posted" or accepted by CSLB. Once posted, contact information about the license becomes public record and is available on CSLB's website.

If you or a contractor or applicant you know has been contacted by someone claiming to be from CSLB and has paid money over the phone, you should contact your credit card company and contest the charges.

You also can send CSLB your name, contact information, and a brief description of the incident to scam@cslb.ca.gov.