New Orleans officials are warning residents and local businesses to watch their inboxes after a wave of scam emails started posing as the city’s planning, zoning and permitting offices and demanding cash for permit reviews, renewals and approvals. The bogus messages, which the city says were reported this week, typically come from non-official email domains and try to rush people into paying by reply email, wire transfer or other off-the-books channels. Officials stressed that real city emails come from addresses ending in @nola.gov and urged people to treat surprise invoices with serious skepticism.
What the city is seeing
According to New Orleans CityBusiness, the city has received multiple reports of emails demanding payment for permit reviews, application renewals or approvals that use high-pressure language and sometimes include links or attachments fishing for financial details. City representatives told the outlet that red flags include sender addresses that are not from official city domains and instructions to handle payment by replying directly for wiring or other informal arrangements. Officials are asking anyone who receives a suspicious email to forward it to the city’s security team at [email protected] so the messages can be tracked and monitored.
How to spot and report phishing
Federal agencies say scams like this often share familiar warning signs: non-official sender domains, urgent or threatening language, unexpected attachments and requests to pay by wire transfer or through a simple reply email. They advise recipients not to send money, not to reply and not to provide any personal or financial information. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) offers reporting tools and guidance for internet-based fraud and urges victims to file a complaint if they suffer a loss. Cybersecurity officials at CISA also recommend never clicking links or opening attachments from unsolicited messages and verifying any payment request using contact information you already trust instead of what appears in the email.
Local context and steps for businesses
This latest scheme follows earlier waves of fake invoices and phony billing attempts that have targeted planning applicants in New Orleans, a reminder that once a scam works, it tends to come back in new outfits. As Hoodline noted in an earlier alert on a phony billing scam, the city has repeatedly urged applicants to double-check that any invoice really comes from an official account. Residents and business owners are being told to verify questionable messages using contact information found on the city’s official website rather than by hitting reply. The city’s main portal is nola.gov. If you believe you have been targeted or victimized, officials say you should save the email, preserve any payment records and report the incident to local law enforcement and to the FBI IC3.
Bottom line: do not respond to unsolicited permit invoices, do not click links or open attachments and do not send money because of an unexpected email. Forward suspicious messages to [email protected] and consider filing a complaint with the FBI’s IC3 if you lost money or sensitive information. The city says it is working with state and federal partners to keep an eye on the problem and will update businesses and residents as needed.
