The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an advisory warning of a phishing campaign that’s impersonating city and county officials to send phony requests for permit fees.
“Individuals and businesses with active applications for land-use permits are being targeted by criminals impersonating city and county planning and zoning board officials, fraudulently requesting fees associated with these permits,” the FBI says.
“Victims receive unsolicited emails citing their permit information, zoning application numbers, and/or property addresses. Victims are instructed to pay invoices for fees related to their permits and directed to make payments via wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment, or cryptocurrency.”
Notably, the attacks are carefully crafted using real information about the targeted areas, and may be timed to coincide with ongoing communications about the permitting process.
“The emails contain detailed, accurate information about planning and zoning requests, including property addresses, case numbers, and the true names of city and county officials,” the advisory says. “The emails use professional language, formatting, and imagery consistent with legitimate government communications for planning and zoning applications, including review processes, planning commission procedures, regulatory compliance, and relevant ordinances.”
The Bureau offers the following advice to help users avoid falling for these attacks:
- “Do not assume emails are legitimate based on the use of city or county letterhead, seals, names of officials, or proper spelling and grammar.
- Verify the email address, including the domain name, matches the email address of the official with whom you are corresponding and does not contain extraneous characters or misspellings.
- Check the city or county official website for notices about ongoing impersonation schemes.
- Call the city or county government, using the phone number listed on the official website, to verify outstanding fees.”
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