FBI Alert for Land Use Permit Phishing Scheme

The FBI has issued an alert warning of an emerging phishing scheme by criminals impersonating city and county officials to solicit fraudulent payments for land use permits. Click HERE to review the alert. The professional looking phishing emails can contain a governmental entity’s letterhead/imagery, references to permit numbers/info, staff member names, and be timed to coincide with expected communications with city and county officials. Victims are instructed to pay permit fees via wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment, or cryptocurrency.

Although there have been no reports of these phishing attempts affecting our office, the District would like to provide the following tips to help protect against these scams:

• The District only accepts check and online payments for E&S service fees. For online payments, always use the “Pay Online” link on our District website’s E&S page. The District will never instruct applicants to pay E&S service fees via wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment, or cryptocurrency.
• Always verify the email address of the sender. Note that all our District staff emails end in the domain name @luzcd.org.
• Call our office at 570-674-7991 to verify outstanding fees before paying.