FBI Warns Criminals Are Impersonating Officials to Target Zoning Applicants

Hernando County posted an FBI public service announcement on March 10, 2026, alerting residents and businesses with active planning and zoning permit applications that criminals are impersonating local government officials to steal money through phishing emails.

The FBI, in Alert Number I-030926-PSA, warned that scammers are mining publicly available permit records to identify targets, then sending unsolicited emails that reference specific permit information, zoning application numbers, and property addresses. The detail makes the messages difficult to dismiss as generic spam. "Individuals and businesses with active applications for land-use permits are being targeted by criminals impersonating city and county planning and zoning board officials, fraudulently requesting fees associated with these permits," the FBI warned.

Once a victim receives one of these emails, they are instructed to pay a fraudulent invoice tied to their permit. The FBI says scammers are directing payments through wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment apps, or cryptocurrency, all methods that are difficult or impossible to reverse once funds are sent.

Anyone who received such an email or lost money to the scheme should file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. The FBI asks complainants to include the email address and phone number used by the scammers, the date the email arrived, the date of the project's scheduled hearing, the amount listed on the fraudulent invoice, and any other financial information the criminals provided.

The scheme fits a pattern the FBI has documented over several years. Roughly four years before this alert, the bureau warned of widespread attacks in which scammers impersonated government and law enforcement officials by spoofing authentic phone numbers to extort money or steal personal information. Then in April 2025, the FBI said criminals had pivoted to impersonating FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center employees, offering to "help" fraud victims recover money they had already lost to other scammers.

Anyone currently waiting on a permit decision from a local planning or zoning office should treat any unexpected payment request with suspicion, particularly if it arrives by email and asks for wire transfer or cryptocurrency. Legitimate government fee notices can be verified by calling the issuing office directly using a phone number found on the official county or city website, not a number supplied in the email itself.