City of Monterey issues urgent warning about permit-related phishing scam.

Officials from the City of Monterey are warning city residents, property owners and local contractors about a recent phishing scam related to the city’s permitting process. Phishing is a type of scam that generally occurs via email or phone, in which a con artist impersonates a trusted party to trick people into sharing their private information.

"This is a highly sophisticated scam that uses detailed, accurate information about submitted projects to make it incredibly believable that the sender is legitimately from the City, even though they are not," Monterey Assistant City Manager Nat Rojanasathira said in a statement. 

Rojanasathira explained the scammers are using email addresses that resemble the official City of Monterey email format but are fraudulent.

"While City staff do send legitimate emails asking applicants how they prefer to pay, these requests will always come from an official @monterey.org or @monterey.gov email address,” Rojanasathira said. “No matter how authentic a message may appear, the City of Monterey will never ask our residents to process payments or send payment receipts by replying to an unofficial, non-government email address."

According to the statement, scammers are impersonating city staff members with fake email addresses, such as “planning.montereyca.gov@usa.com,” to solicit payments for permit applications. The scammers are also using public agendas and staff reports to manufacture “realistic-sounding architectural review permits, specific property addresses, and zoning details.” 

To avoid becoming a victim of the scam, the City is urging those receiving suspicious emails not to respond, or send money or financial information, and to check the email domain, as official electronic communications from the City of Monterey come from an email address ending in @monterey.gov or @monterey.org. All suspicious activity can be verified by the city’s Planning Division at planning@monterey.gov.