An email that looked like it came from the Town of Chesapeake Beach and its Board of Appeals sent at least one resident an invoice for a property and zoning matter, then asked the resident to reply for “wire-transfer instructions” to pay it.
It was a scam, the town said in a fraud alert issued Oct. 6. Neither the town nor the Board of Appeals sent or authorized the message.
What makes this one worth a closer look is how real it seemed. The town said the email “appears official” and referred to specific details about a property and a zoning matter. Scammers can pull that kind of information from public records, the alert says, including property data, the names of town officials and board members, town addresses and ordinance numbers. A message that gets those details right can still be fake.
How the town actually bills
The town gave residents one simple test. It will not email you and tell you to reply to get wire-transfer instructions for a zoning, permit or Board of Appeals fee. Any message that does is not from Town Hall.
If you get an invoice or payment request that claims to be from Chesapeake Beach and you have any doubt, call Town Hall at 410-257-2230 before doing anything. Use the number published on the town’s website, the alert says, not a phone number, email address or link inside the suspicious message.
The town’s other advice if a similar email lands in your inbox:
- Do not reply.
- Do not send a wire transfer or any other payment.
- Do not click links or open attachments you weren’t expecting.
- Do not give out banking, credit card or other financial information.
- Once you’ve confirmed the email is fake, delete it.
If you already paid or replied
Anyone who has already answered a suspicious email, shared financial information or sent money should contact their bank or credit union right away, the town said. Wire transfers are hard to reverse, and the sooner a bank knows, the better the chance of stopping or recovering the money.
Fraud that arrives by email can also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
The town did not say how many residents received the email or whether anyone paid. It asked residents to share the warning with neighbors, businesses and anyone else who deals with the town on property or permit matters.
