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Planning staff redacts applicant contact info after wire-fraud attempts; commissioners urge law enforcement notification
Summary
County planning staff redacted applicant email/contact information in meeting packets after applicants reported fraudulent wire-transfer invoices; commissioners discussed public-records balance and recommended notifying the sheriff's office and continuing IT monitoring.
Fluvanna County planning staff told the Planning Commission on Sept. 9 that applicant contact information was redacted from meeting packets after several applicants received fraudulent emails impersonating the county and requesting wire transfers.
County staff said the apparent scam involved third parties pulling contact information from public packets and sending fake invoices. "Official county emails come from the @fluvannacounty.org domain, and the county does not request payment by wire transfer," staff told the commission and said the county is not currently aware of a data breach but IT is monitoring systems.
Staff said an applicant forwarded a fraudulent email that included an incorrect county domain and a request to wire more than $4,000; the applicant contacted county staff and did not pay. Planning staff said an unredacted application copy remains available on request and that they redacted packets to mitigate immediate risk.
Commissioners raised public-records and transparency concerns. One commissioner asked that the county continue providing the official public record to commissioners and recommended forwarding incident information to the sheriff's office for investigation. A commissioner said, "We should turn over everything we know about this to them," and others suggested balancing public access with applicant safety.
Next steps: staff will continue coordinating with IT and consider forwarding incident reports to the sheriff's office; unredacted records will be provided on request. The commission discussed possible coordination with neighboring localities that have seen similar scams.
