Carmel police are warning residents about an email scam that claims to be from the Zoning Board of Appeals and asserts that the recipient owes the town money, and that payment is due immediately.
The email requests that payment be made via secure wire transfer. Police said scammers sometimes ask for gift cards or other unusual forms of payment and added that anyone who receives such an email should not respond, send payment or provide any personal information.
Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann said the emails specifically target people with business before the town of Carmel.
“They are accessing our web pages, and that is how they get the information (about who is before the ZBA), because a lot of these documents are posted online,” he said. “It seems to be more effective than other scams because they know correspondence is going on [between the town and the ZBA applicant], and they take advantage of that.”
Hoffmann said Carmel police learned of the attempted scam when a recipient phoned the town’s Building Department to report it. The Building Department then notified the police.
Hoffmann said anyone who receives such an email can report it directly to Carmel police.
“I believe the New York Department of State is looking into this, but we can get the ball rolling and pass it on to the appropriate parties,” he said. “Our detectives will figure it out, but the state has more resources than we do.”
According to a press release issued by Carmel police, the email provides an itemized list of what the recipient supposedly owes:
Itemized breakdown of application approval fee
Description — Amount (USD)
Application intake and administrative processing — $585
Zoning compliance and code review — $740
Planning and land use evaluation — $820
Legal review and procedural compliance — $675
Public hearing preparation and notice publication — $489
Contract staff and technical consultant review — $400
Records management, agenda preparation and archiving — $200
Total due: $3,909
Police said scammers attempt to direct and hold recipients’ attention to prevent them from seeking advice or contacting the legitimate source. They also use pressing deadlines to create a sense of urgency.
In the example email provided by Carmel police, scammers used the town seal to create the appearance of legitimacy. However, the email address and domain name used in the scam — Planning.townofcarmel.gov@usa.com — are fake. The legitimate domain is @townofcarmelny.gov.
Police also noted that these scammers insist that you communicate only via email, which they said is a “bizarre and unusual request and a telltale sign of a scam.”
Hoffmann said that while this scam was reported in Carmel, it is likely occurring in other communities.
“This is their job; it’s what they do for money,” he said. “The more opportunities, the better.”
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