LOWELL, Mich. — An email scam is circulating in Lowell, its sender pretending to be a city official collecting property fees.
In a press release, the City of Lowell said the scam had so far targeted people working with its planning commission to get approval for property permits and rezoning requests, asking for an "application approval fee."
The emails appeared to be sent by City Manager Mike Burns, but used an address ending in usa.com, rather than the official ci.lowell.mi.us address, used by all city officials.
"I don't appreciate that," Burns said to FOX 17 on Thursday. "It wasn't me."
In addition, the emails also included information relevant to the recipient — background on the property and the planning commission's review process — pulling from information made public during City of Lowell meetings.
"They basically took information that's open to the public, that's transparent, and tried to use it to their advantage," Burns said.
As far as the city is aware, no one in Lowell lost money due to the property fee scam and, in the past, similar scams have been reported across the state and country.
The person(s) behind the scam have not been arrested or charged, Burns said, adding local police are "looking into it."
If the City of Lowell should ever request a zoning or permit payment, it will never do so via email without a prior phone call.
"If [a resident] receives something they believe isn't correct, they need to call the City of Lowell and verify. I think that's the best way to do it," Burns said. "Or come in, because then we can give you a definitive answer."
