Permit-fee impersonation phishing campaign targeting land-use applicants
Campaign
Summary
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A phishing campaign is tricking land-use permit applicants with fake fee requests, increasing the risk of payment fraud and exposing a specific public-facing permit workflow. The operation uses impersonation of city and county planning officials and publicly available permit details to make the messages look legitimate. Victims are being pushed to pay through wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment, or cryptocurrency.
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How related:
In a public service announcement published on Monday, the bureau said that the criminals behind this campaign are identifying potential victims using publicly available information, which also makes their malicious messages seem legitimate and helps them trick suspicious targets.
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Timeline
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09.03.2026 17:30 2 articles · 4mo ago
FBI warns of permit-fee impersonation phishing
Initial DisclosureThe FBI warned that criminals are impersonating U.S. city and county planning and zoning board officials in phishing emails targeting businesses and individuals with active land-use permit applications. The messages use publicly available permit information, including permit details, zoning application numbers, property addresses, and scheduled hearing details, to request fraudulent fees and pressure recipients to pay by wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment, or cryptocurrency. The FBI advised recipients to verify sender domains and email addresses and to confirm any outstanding fees directly with the local city or county government before paying.
Show sources
- FBI warns of phishing attacks impersonating US city, county officials — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 09.03.2026 17:30
- FBI warns of phishing attacks impersonating US city, county officials — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 09.03.2026 17:30