The Washington County Zoning and Planning Office is alerting residents, property owners and developers to an email scam in which a sender falsely claims to represent the county’s zoning office and requests payment for development-related fees.
County officials report that the fraudulent messages demand immediate payment via wire transfer and instruct recipients to communicate exclusively through email. Washington County does issue legitimate notifications regarding zoning and development fees; however, applicants are always asked to remit payment in person and are never instructed to pay via wire transfer.
“These emails are designed to create urgency and confusion, which is a red flag,” said Angie Charles, planning director for Washington County. “If you receive a message demanding immediate payment by wire transfer or discouraging phone contact, do not respond. We want the public to know that this is not how Washington County conducts business.”
The scam emails originate from addresses that closely resemble those of county employees. Upon closer inspection, however, the messages are sent from incorrect domains. All legitimate Washington County email addresses end with “@washingtoncountytn.org.”
Washington County urges anyone who receives a suspicious or fraudulent message claiming to be from the zoning office not to respond or provide any personal or financial information. Instead, recipients should contact the zoning and planning office directly at 423-753-1753 to verify any payment request.
County officials continue to monitor the situation and encourage the public to remain vigilant and report suspected scams.
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