West Michigan City Residents Targeted In New Scam

Residents of a West Michigan city have been warned about a new scam going around.

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For this scam, someone is pretending to be a city official and asking for an application approval fee in order for a request to move forward.

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Email Scam Targeting Lowell Residents

The City of Lowell shared details about the email scam in a press release.

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The City of Lowell says the email scam targets applicants seeking approval from the City’s Planning Commission for property permits and rezoning requests.

The scam email appears to be real at first because it comes from City Manager Michael Burns but has a usa.com email address, instead of ending with ci.lowell.mi.us. which is how all City of Lowell emails end.

The email outlines the request in great detail, providing background on the property, laying out the internal and Planning Commission review processes and requesting an application approval fee in order for the request to move forward.

The email then asks for the payment receipt to be emailed to the sender for confirmation and documentation purposes.

Scammers are using online information that the City of Lowell is required by law to make public to target community members.

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What To Do If You Receive The Scam Email

If you or someone you know receives an email like this the most important thing to do is not click on any links, open any attachments or send any payment.

Instead call the City of Lowell at 616.897.8457 during regular business hours and then delete the email and report it as spam.

You're also encouraged to file a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General Office at mi.gov/agcomplaints.