Virginia Beach Residents: Watch Out For Fake Permit Fee Emails
Once again, scammers are using data, often publicly available, to increase their fraud opportunities. If you have an active land-use or zoning permit application pending, beware of being contacted by fraudsters. According to the FBI, scammers will pose as city officials, usually via email (some of which are surprisingly convincing) requesting payment for supposed “fees” tied to those permits.
As this particular scam is starting to spread state by state, Virginia Beach has been especially hit. Armed with detailed information scraped from the Internet, which include permit information and property addresses, criminals can make their emails sound legitimate. According to Virginia Beach Sheriff Rocky Holcomb, “They (scammers) have many ways to make it look like it came from the City of Virginia Beach.”
Both the FBI and local law enforcement recommend that residents remain cautious, particularly when receiving unsolicited emails or phone calls requesting any sort of payment regarding anything related to permits. A quick and easy way to spot a scam, according to officials, is to closely examine the sender’s email address (fraudsters are especially fond of using Gmail for instance). “A lot of times you can look at it and determine by the email address if it’s real,” says Sheriff Holcomb. “If it doesn’t come from ‘@vbgov.com,’ it’s not authentic.” Of course, the rule of thumb is to contact authorities directly before responding to these emails.
Another recommendation from authorities: It’s important to report such scams quickly. If anyone believes they may have either been targeted or have already sent money to suspected scammers, it’s urgent that they contact law enforcement as soon as possible. The more information that is provided to authorities helps to bring these criminals a little closer to justice.
More Information on Permit Scams
From the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center:
The FBI is warning the public about an emerging phishing scheme by criminals impersonating city and county officials to solicit fraudulent payments for city and county planning and zoning permits. The criminals leverage publicly available permit information to identify potential victims and increase the legitimacy of the scam. Victims of this scam have been identified nationwide.
Scam Targeting Permit Applicants
We recently learned that several members of the public who applied for permits from our department received fraudulent invoices from third parties claiming to be from our County. This did not involve any breach of County information systems. Rather, the perpetrators of the fraud created fake invoices for County services using publicly available information such as property addresses and project descriptions drawn from the County website.
FBI warns of phishing scams impersonating city officials for permit fees
The FBI is alerting the public to a rise in phishing attacks where scammers impersonate U.S. city and county officials to defraud individuals and businesses seeking planning and zoning permits. These fraudulent schemes leverage publicly available information to appear legitimate, aiming to trick victims into sending payments for non-existent fees, as reported by Security Affairs.
FBI alert: scammers target zoning permit applicants
The FBI warns of phishing attacks where crooks impersonate U.S. city and county officials to target people requesting planning and zoning permits.
The FBI warns that scammers are impersonating U.S. city and county officials in phishing campaigns targeting businesses and individuals applying for planning or zoning permits. Using publicly available information, attackers craft messages that appear legitimate to trick victims into responding or sharing sensitive information.
FBI warns of zoning permit scam emails
If you are building a home, renovating a property or applying for a zoning permit, there is a new scam you need to watch for. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says criminals are impersonating city and county planning officials in a phishing campaign designed to trick victims into paying fake permit fees.
The messages often look very convincing. A typical fake scam email might look like the one below. In many cases, scammers already know details about the property or the permit application. That makes the email feel real and urgent.
