| Battle Creek Enquirer
Residents in Battle Creek are being urged to exercise caution when opening emails that appear to be from city Planning and Zoning staff.
The city’s Information Technology Department has shared that scam emails appear to be sent from various non-official City of Battle Creek emails, attempting to make it look like they’re coming from official city staff, including those in the Planning and Zoning division and the Planning Commission. These emails appear to include a fraudulent invoice and instruct recipients to wire transfer a payment by requesting a link when replying to the email, according to a community announcement.
How to spot the scam
The scam emails are being sent from non-official addresses that may look like they belong to the city. While some information in the emails may appear accurate, it is likely obtained from public records.
The fraudulent invoice does include correct address information for the City of Battle Creek, but the request for a wire transfer is a red flag. This is not the process the city uses to receive payments.
Tips for residents
The city is reminding residents to take precautions when dealing with suspicious emails:
- Verify the source: Official communications from the City of Battle Creek will come from an email address ending in @battlecreekmi.gov.
- Contact the city: If you receive a suspicious email, call the city at 269-966-3311 to confirm its authenticity.
- Do not reply: Avoid interacting with suspicious emails. Do not reply or open any attachments.
- Report and delete: Use the “Report Phishing” or “Report Spam” buttons in your email provider to help report these types of emails.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at https://cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
