Scammers imitate Bernalillo County in phony fee scheme

Regina Okoye has seen a lot of government paperwork as vice president at Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning.

She knows many of the processes and procedures as well as anyone. And when she received an email claiming to be from Bernalillo County asking for a wire transfer to pay exorbitant fees, Okoye knew something was amiss. “The verbiage was very similar to what the county usually posts,” Okoye said. “And then they identified the county logo as well. And then it said wire transfer, which, when I initially just looked at it, I knew this wasn’t real.”

Since January, county officials have warned of a scam targeting businesses seeking special use permits, variances and other land use agreements. However, the numbers have risen in recent weeks, raising concerns that the scam is becoming more widespread.

Elvira Lopez, planning manager at Bernalillo County, said the county has so far confirmed five people received the email claiming to be from the county. Additionally, Santa Fe County warned developers in February of a similar — if not the same — scam playing out up north.

Lopez told the Journal that, since so much of the information about land use changes is public, it’s possible the scammers pulled public information to dress up their fake document.

“There are permit fees in the county as part of planning and land use. That’s standard,” Lopez said. “But that only happens at the county, at our front counter and in person.”

The county shared the phony document with the Journal. It identifies itself as an invoice, adorned with the county seal and watermark of the seal on every page. The document requests a wire transfer of $8,200. The document also itemizes the fake charges.

For Okoye, who manages her firm’s land use and planning division, the red flags were plain to see. For one, she had already paid the actual fees outlined in the document. But the fake invoice claimed the fees hadn’t been paid and wanted twice the usual amount.

“They did make it look pretty realistic,” Okoye said. “I mean, if the average person wasn’t used to this process, I could see how it could be confusing.”

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, identifies these types of shakedowns as “government impersonator scams.” The basic process is that someone or some group pretends to be the government and, using that perceived authority, demands money, according to the FTC.

The FTC adds that the best way to confirm if the demand is a scam is to contact the government body directly through the phone numbers it promotes or in person.

From Lopez and Bernalillo County’s side, the next steps are adjusting their processes to mitigate the risks.

“We’re seeing another wave, so I think we’re going to take different actions and different measures to try to protect our applicants,” Lopez said.