Buncombe County developers and property owners are being targeted by scammers demanding $4,000 to $10,000 in fake development fees, county officials warn.
The emails can be difficult to distinguish from legitimate county correspondence. Scammers may use county logos and branding, the names of actual employees and real county office addresses. They also may reference details about a specific development project.
“These letters are sophisticated, they will often have my name included, reference current zoning cases, and there might just be one word misspelled, or it comes from an incorrect email address,” said Nathan Pennington, Buncombe County planning director…