Scammers impersonating Columbus government offices

Columbus officials say that scammers are trying to steal your money by pretending to be with the city-county planning department and demanding fake fees.

According to the city, several residents have reported emails that appear to be legitimate and that target residents with an application before the city-county planning department. But the scam emails include fraudulent links to pay additional fake application or approval fees tallying into the thousands of dollars.

City officials say that the only time you will be asked to pay any fees in the planning process is when you first file an application. At that point the planning department office administrator, Janie Meek, will send you an email outlining the fee schedule and giving you the option to pay fees by cash, check or on the city’s actual payment site “paygov.” Those legitimate emails will include a verification of the jurisdiction of the request and an application case number. Any real fees will be between $10 and $500 dollars, not thousands.

Mike Richardson, Director of Security and Risk for the city said the city will never request personal or financial information via email. He urges you to verify the legitimacy of any messages before you respond or take action such as clicking a link.

City officials say that legitimate government offices will not ask for personal information via email such as passwords, Social Security numbers of your financial details. You should always be wary if an email demands immediate action or uses threats. The scammers rely on pressure to prompt you to give in to their attempt to rip you off.

More safety tips:

•  Verify the sender. Check the full email address, not just the display name. Scammers
  often use addresses that look similar to legitimate ones.
• Be cautious with links and attachments. Hover over links to preview the web address
  before clicking, and avoid downloading attachments from unknown sources.
• Look for signs of poor quality. Misspellings, grammatical errors, or unusual formatting can signal a scam.
• When in doubt, verify. Contact the organization directly using a verified phone number or website instead of responding to the email.