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Planning staff warns applicants about email scam requesting wire payments
Summary
Planning Department staff warned prospective and current applicants about a scam that uses publicly available agenda information and AI-generated messages to request payment by wire transfer. Staff said the city will not request wired payments and urged applicants to verify legitimacy with the office.
Planning Department staff issued a public-service announcement at the start of the May 25 meeting, warning applicants about a scam that uses information from planning agendas to send realistic-looking emails requesting payment by wire transfer.
"We will never ask for money to be wired," Matthew Blomley, planning staff, told the commission. Blomley said scammers are using AI to create convincing emails that mimic the city, often using similar but non-city domains (for example, "murfreesboro.usa.org"). He said the department is redacting email addresses from agendas but that scammers are still locating contact information through other means.
Blomley said the office currently accepts application fees only by cash or check and urged anyone who receives an unexpected invoice or wiring request to call the planning office before taking any action. "If there is any question whether an email is legitimate, please don't pay it. Never wire money to one of the scammers. Call us, and we'll let you know if that charge is legitimate," he said.
The announcement did not name any specific affected applicants or provide additional remediation steps beyond contacting the planning office and using the fee schedule. Staff indicated IT has confirmed the issue and is assisting with precautions.
