A new planning and zoning permit phishing scam is targeting US applicants by impersonating city and county officials and using publicly available permit data to craft convincing payment requests. Victims are pressured to pay fake administrative fees via wire transfers, peer-to-peer services, or cryptocurrency, and authorities urge verification through official municipal contacts and reporting to IC3. #FBI #IC3
Keypoints
- Attackers harvest public permit records to include real addresses, application numbers, and official names.
- Phishing emails mimic municipal formatting and often include forged PDF invoices to appear legitimate.
- Fraudsters demand payments via wire transfer, peer-to-peer apps, or cryptocurrency to hinder recovery.
- A common red flag is a sender domain that is not an official municipal email address.
- Report suspected permit payment fraud to the FBI IC3 and verify payment requests by calling the government office listed on its official website.
Read More: https://thecyberexpress.com/planning-and-zoning-permit-phishing-scam/