HIGH government impersonation
Is “is the city hall permit fee email real” a scam?
Yes — this is a known, dangerous scam.
Criminals impersonating city or county officials email permit applicants citing real permit numbers and property addresses, then demand payment for fees by wire transfer, peer-to-peer app, or cryptocurrency.
How to tell
- ⚠ Unsolicited email about a permit you hold — real city offices send mailed invoices, not unsolicited payment emails
- ⚠ Payment demanded by wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, or cryptocurrency
- ⚠ Email correctly references your permit number or property address — scammers pull this from public records
- ⚠ Sender domain is not an official city or county .gov address
What to do right now
- 1 Do not click any link or pay any invoice received by email
- 2 Call your city or county permit office directly using a phone number from the official .gov website — never a number in the email
- 3 Forward the suspicious email to your municipality's IT or communications department
- 4 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Full guidance, red flags, variants & official sources
Fake city hall email demands payment for your building or zoning permit →