Scammers impersonating Scarsdale planning officials have already targeted at least one land use applicant with a fake wire-transfer demand, prompting the Village to issue a fraud alert Tuesday, Aug. 25.
In the confirmed incident, a fraudster posed as the "Village of Scarsdale Planning & Zoning Department" using the email address [email protected].
The address embeds "scarsdale.gov" in the username to look official, but the actual domain is @usa.com, not the Village's real @scarsdale.gov.
The Village stressed that it will never request payment by wire transfer. Legitimate emails always end in @scarsdale.gov.
The trick works. The scheme is part of a nationwide fraud wave the FBI flagged on March 9. Criminals mine publicly posted permit agendas for property addresses, application numbers and meeting dates, then send invoices that look convincingly municipal.
The Village of Pleasantville issued a similar warning in May, and Westchester County put out its own alert on July 23 after a statewide notice from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
"Legitimate correspondence will only come from official government email addresses … that means it has a dot gov … and never rely on payment requests coming from unreliable email domains," Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins told News 12 Westchester on July 28.
The Village advises anyone who receives a suspicious message to avoid responding, clicking links or using contact information in the email. Instead, report it as phishing through your email provider and verify directly with the Village.
How to verify
Residents with questions about Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals matters can contact Donna Myers at [email protected] or 914-722-1137. Building Department, Board of Architectural Review and Committee for Historic Preservation inquiries go to [email protected] or 914-722-1140. The Village Manager's Office is reachable at 914-722-1110.
Anyone who believes they were victimized should also contact Scarsdale police and file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
