Officials with the City of Rock Island are warning businesses and residents about a new scam involving fraudulent invoices claiming to be from the city’s planning department.
In a recent news release, the city said scammers are targeting people being named in public meetings agendas. They then email fraudulent bills and payment requests that claim to be from the City of Rock Island’s “Planning Department” using the email address of [email protected].
The release said that official emails sent by the city end in the email address @rigov.org, and not @usa.com.
A resident who was named in a June agenda for requesting a handicapped parking space at her home reported to city officials that she received a fraudulent invoice demanding she wire $1,250 to pay for the space.
“The city would never send an invoice charging a resident for a handicapped parking space,” Finance Director Jessica Sager said in the release. “That is something we do for free as a course of business. The city also does not demand payment through suspicious wire transfer requests sent by email.”
The invoices are designed to look official with Rock Island’s city logo, fake invoice numbers and so-called approval fees. The emails demand that the person respond to the email and request wire transfer instruction.
Anyone receiving a suspicious invoice is asked to call a reliable number to the city or to call the specific department trying to collect money. Residents should ignore the email and not pay these invoices.
