PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — Palm Beach County is warning residents, property owners, contractors and businesses about a phishing scam targeting people involved in permits, development applications and other land use matters.
The warning came from the Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning and Building Department, which said criminals are impersonating city and county planning, zoning and building personnel in an effort to collect fraudulent payments. The scam is aimed at people who may already be dealing with permitting or development paperwork, making the messages harder to spot at a glance.
According to the county, the scammers send emails posing as local government staff and request payment for fake permit or processing fees. Some of the messages are built to look official. They may include real property addresses, permit or case numbers, and the names of actual government officials. The emails may also use official-looking logos and formatting to make the demand appear legitimate.
That matters in Palm Beach County, where contractors, property owners and business operators regularly move through permitting and zoning processes involving county and municipal offices. A message that looks routine can blend in with real project correspondence. The county’s warning makes clear that the scam is designed to exploit that familiarity.
Whitney Carroll, executive director of the Planning, Zoning and Building Department, said legitimate payments are handled only through the county’s secure systems or in person.
“Please be aware that payments can only be made through the secure payment portal on our website or in person at our offices located at the Vista Center in West Palm Beach,” Carroll said.
Carroll also said the department will not request payment by email through alternative methods commonly used in scams.
“PZB will never ask that payments be made via email using wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment apps, or cryptocurrency as referenced in the FBI alert,” she said.
The county said residents and businesses should treat several red flags seriously. Those include emails sent from addresses that do not end in .gov, urgent language claiming a project will be delayed or penalized unless payment is made immediately, invoices directing recipients to reply by email for payment instructions, and any request for payment through wire transfers, peer-to-peer payment apps or cryptocurrency.
The structure of the scam is straightforward. The sender tries to create pressure, uses details that may appear specific to a real property or case, and then shifts the payment outside normal government channels. That is the point where recipients need to stop and verify the request before sending money or responding further.
Authority for permit and development payments sits with the actual government department handling the file, not with an email reply chain demanding off-platform payment. In this case, Palm Beach County said fees and payments should be confirmed directly with the Planning, Zoning and Building Department.
Anyone with questions or concerns about fees or payment requests can contact the department at 561-233-5001.
The county is also pointing residents to federal reporting channels if they believe they received one of the fraudulent messages or sent money in response. Suspected victims or recipients of suspicious emails should report the incident to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3, at ic3.gov.
Palm Beach County said the FBI public service announcement tied to this scam is identified as I-030926-PSA on the IC3 website.
For residents, contractors and business owners, the practical takeaway is simple: do not send permit-related payments based on an emailed demand alone, especially if the message pushes for immediate action or routes payment outside the county’s secure portal or in-person office procedures. Verify the request first, use official contact information, and be cautious even if the message includes a real address, case number or staff name.
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