The Gazebo Gazette
BILOXI (GG) — Residents and applicants who have submitted plans, permit requests, or other development-related applications to the Community Development Department should be aware of a scam involving fraudulent invoices that appear to come from the City of Biloxi, the Biloxi Planning Commission, or a city planning division.
The letters and emails are being sent to people who have submitted applications through the City’s Community Development Department and Planning Commission. Such matters can include proposed developments, zoning requests, variances, subdivisions, site plans, and other development-related cases. The Planning Commission reviews cases and makes recommendations on matters that come before it.
The fraudulent correspondence is designed to look like an official city invoice and may request payment for a fee associated with an applicant. The City of Biloxi does not send invoices to applicants for Community Development or Planning Commission cases.
Applicants should know that required fees are collected when plans, permits, or applications are submitted at the beginning of the process. City regulations require development applications to be submitted to the Community Development Department along with the applicable fee.
Residents and applicants should be especially cautious of any communication that:
- Appears to be an invoice from the City of Biloxi, Planning Commission or a city planning division.
- Requests payment after an application or plan has already been submitted.
- Provides instructions for sending money through an unfamiliar payment method.
- Comes from an email address that is not a biloxi.ms.us address.
- Creates a sense of urgency or threatens consequences if payment is not made.
The City encourages anyone who receives a suspicious invoice or payment request related to an application submitted to Biloxi Community Development not to make a payment or provide financial information. Instead, contact the City’s Community Development Department directly to verify the communication.
The Community Development Department is located at 676 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and can be reached at 228-435-6280. The department oversees building projects, planning, building permits, code enforcement, and other development-related activities in Biloxi.
For an email-based scam invoice, residents may also file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at IC3.gov. The IC3, operated by the FBI, is the central reporting hub for cyber-enabled crimes, including scams and online fraud. The FBI recommends reporting incidents through the legitimate IC3 website.
