Fraudsters seek wire transfers using information that may come directly from public municipal records
By Lisa Pillivant
WARWICK — A scam warning first issued by the Village of Warwick in December 2025 and still sitting quietly on the Village website deserves renewed attention as similar schemes continue targeting planning and zoning applicants in communities across New York and the nation.
The Village of Warwick warned residents, property owners, contractors and businesses about a fraudulent email scheme targeting people involved in Planning and Zoning applications — part of a sophisticated scam that federal authorities say is occurring nationwide.
The warning is still posted prominently across the Village’s website and specifically on its Planning Board and Zoning Board pages.
“A scam email is circulating requesting wire transfer payments for Planning and Zoning applications. The Village of Warwick does not request payments by wire transfer.”
The Village is advising anyone receiving a questionable billing request to contact Village Hall directly before making a payment.
The Warwick warning is particularly significant because this does not appear to be the familiar mass-produced phishing email sent indiscriminately to thousands of recipients.
The FBI issued a national warning on March 9 about precisely this type of fraud. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, criminals are identifying people and businesses with active land-use applications and impersonating municipal planning and zoning officials.
In some cases, the scammers know surprisingly specific details.
The fraudulent messages may contain an applicant’s property address, permit or zoning application number and other genuine information associated with a pending project. The victim then receives what appears to be an official invoice and is instructed to pay supposed municipal fees by wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment service or cryptocurrency.
That information does not necessarily require hacking into a municipal computer system.
The FBI says criminals are exploiting publicly available permit information to identify potential victims and make their messages appear legitimate.
Public Records Become a Tool for Scammers
That method is particularly relevant in Warwick. Like municipalities throughout New York, the Village makes substantial portions of its land-use process publicly accessible. Its website provides links to past and present Planning Board applications, Zoning Board applications, agendas, minutes, public hearing notices, forms and other documents.
Public access is an important part of the planning process. Neighbors have a right to know what is being proposed nearby, and applicants appearing before public boards generally become part of a public governmental proceeding.
But the same transparency can provide criminals with information that makes a fraudulent email far more convincing.
The FBI says scammers have learned to use those records to create communications tailored to an actual applicant and an actual project.
That can dramatically change the psychology of the scam.
An unsolicited email claiming that someone owes a random government fee may immediately raise suspicion. An email arriving while a property owner is actively waiting for Planning Board approval — and correctly identifying the property and application — can appear much more believable.
Warwick Is Not Alone
Nearby municipalities have encountered the same threat.
The Town of Crawford issued its own warning in March after fraudulent messages targeting Planning and Zoning applicants surfaced. Crawford reported that fake invoices could contain the municipality’s logo and accurate project information, while demanding fees or escrow deposits through wire transfers.
The Town of Cornwall has also warned applicants that scammers obtain email addresses, telephone numbers and mailing addresses from publicly available municipal documents and then send fraudulent invoices seeking wire transfers.
And in May, the Village of Pleasantville in Westchester County issued an unusually detailed warning describing the same scheme.
Pleasantville officials said scammers were extracting information from publicly posted Planning, Zoning and Architectural Review Board agendas, then creating invoices containing municipal logos, names of actual officials, legitimate application numbers and real meeting dates. The scammers used email addresses designed to resemble official government accounts and demanded wire transfers before applications could supposedly proceed.
Reports from other communities across the country show the same pattern, strengthening the FBI’s conclusion that this is a nationwide fraud campaign rather than an isolated Village of Warwick incident.
By contrast, – the Town of Warwick’s use of a dedicated Planning Board Portal provides an additional layer of protection for applicants. Planning Board applications can be submitted and reviewed through the Town’s official online system rather than by email, helping keep documents and communications within an established municipal process and making unsolicited emails easier to question. While no system can completely prevent scammers from using publicly available information, applicants should treat any payment demand received outside the Town’s normal process—particularly a request for a wire transfer—with caution and verify it directly with Town Hall before sending money.
Why the Scam Can Be Convincing
Planning and zoning applications can involve substantial sums of money.
Applicants may legitimately be responsible for application fees, engineering review costs, attorney expenses, escrow replenishments and other charges during a project.
A developer, homeowner or business owner may therefore already be expecting an invoice.
That creates an opportunity for a criminal who knows enough about the project to insert a fraudulent payment demand into an otherwise legitimate process.
The FBI says criminals may also create a sense of urgency — making victims believe that failure to pay promptly could delay an application or prevent a permit from moving forward.
Don’t Trust an Email Simply Because the Details Are Correct
The new generation of scams also makes some traditional fraud advice less useful.
Correctly identifying your name, property, project or application does not prove that the sender is legitimate.
Neither does the appearance of an official logo or the name of an actual municipal employee.
For Village of Warwick residents, perhaps the most important lesson is also the simplest:
A fraudulent invoice may know who you are, where your property is and what project you have before a Village board. That doesn’t make the invoice real.
Until the Village confirms otherwise, any request to wire money for a Warwick Planning or Zoning application should be treated as a scam.
The FBI recommends independently verifying unexpected payment requests by contacting the government agency through contact information obtained separately — not through a telephone number, email address or link contained in the suspicious message.
For Warwick applicants, the Village’s Planning and Zoning office can be reached directly at 845-986-2031, extension 108. The Village lists its Planning and Zoning email as planning@villageofwarwickny.gov. Village Hall is located at 77 Main Street.
