Some applicants seeking land use amendments and zoning changes through the city of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department have been subject to attempted wire transfer scams, the department said Oct. 9.
Helena Parola, the department’s director, said some applicants have received spam emails appearing to come from the city and asking for a wire transfer to pay for application fees.
According to one such email shared with the Daily Record, an applicant was asked for $5,000 in fees. The total included an $800 application fee, $1,200 for zoning review, $600 for environmental impact assessment, $1,000 for administrative processing fee and $1,400 for final review and approval.
The scam provided an account number and a wire transfer number for a Wells Fargo checking account, which the email said was the account for the city’s Planning Commission.
Phil Perry, chief communications officer for the city, said the city had received three confirmed complaints, each with identical requests and wire transfer numbers. The Planning and Development Department is reaching out to all applicants from the last 12 months to notify them of the scam.
Parola said that as far as she knew, no applicants had sent a payment. However, the department is only aware of cases in which the applicant alerted the city.
There is no indication that any city system or email account was compromised, Perry said.
Typically, for planning-related fees, an invoice is sent to an applicant, Perry said. The applicant is then required to pay the fees at the Tax Collector’s Office, with a receipt provided in person or by email to the Planning and Development Department.
Perry said the city Technology Solutions Department had alerted law enforcement, per city policy.
“We have reported the incident to Technology Services and their security team has taken on the issue,” Parola said in an email. “Additionally, the Planning Department now highlights at the end of our emails that include application invoices that the COJ would never ask for a wire transfer.”