Just about everyone knows not to send Walmart gift cards to a Nigerian prince; however, lately scams have gotten so ubiquitous – with many involving local government – that it’s hard to keep up, and some very good ones could fool you.
The latest warning comes from the Greensboro Planning Department, and this scam has a particularly convincing touch: The scammers know who’s actually going through the rezoning process with the city.
The Planning Department announced this week that someone is sending emails to rezoning applicants while falsely claiming to be the department’s interim director.
The fraudulent email tells the property owner or business that an invoice needs to be paid electronically as part of the rezoning process.
That could certainly sound plausible to someone who has an active rezoning case with the city and who is already accustomed to dealing with Planning Department staff, paperwork and fees.
However, the city says it’s not legit.
According to the Planning Department, all administrative fees associated with zoning requests are collected when the application is submitted. Applicants shouldn’t receive a later email from the department asking them to electronically pay an invoice.
City officials are advising rezoning applicants to be particularly cautious about unexpected emails and not to open attachments, click links or reply to a message that appears suspicious.
One fairly easy clue is the sender’s email address: Official emails from the City of Greensboro come from addresses ending in @greensboro-nc.gov.
An email claiming to be from the Greensboro Planning Department that comes from some other domain should raise an immediate red flag for you.
Those who aren’t sure whether a message is legitimate can contact Mike Kirkman with the Planning Department at 336-373-4649 or Carla Harrison at 336-373-3689.
Unfortunately, local government has been used increasingly as cover for scammers in recent years.
In July 2025, the Rhino Times reported that scammers had sent emails impersonating Guilford County’s GovDelivery account – the same system the county routinely uses to distribute official announcements, press releases and public notices. That scam was especially troublesome because people receiving an email appearing to come from Guilford County had good reason to believe it was legitimate.
In 2024, another scammer claimed to be a Guilford County sheriff’s deputy and invoked the name of an actual Guilford County District Court judge – telling intended victims they had missed jury duty, owed a $2,000 fine, and could be arrested if they didn’t pay.
Also, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has repeatedly had to remind residents that deputies don’t call people and demand gift cards, Bitcoin or electronic payments to make an arrest warrant or missed court date disappear.
In late 2024, Sheriff Danny Rogers said more than 15 such cases had been reported in a matter of weeks.
There have even been bogus Greensboro traffic citations emailed to residents – despite the fact that Greensboro doesn’t have traffic cameras that issue citations.
So be warned: If someone claiming to represent local government suddenly wants money electronically – particularly if there’s a threat, a deadline or pressure to pay immediately – don’t use the contact information in the message.
Instead, find the government agency’s real phone number yourself and ask.
