A Convincing New Scam Is Targeting South Shore Zoning and Planning Applicants. Here’s How It Works.

Fraudsters are mining public permit records to send fake invoices to people with active applications. State and federal law enforcement have now issued formal warnings.

When a Hingham homeowner in the middle of a Planning Board project received an emailed invoice for a permit fee, it didn’t look obviously wrong. She had recently paid a smaller fee to the town, so another bill wasn’t a surprise. But this one was larger, and something about it felt off — so she called Town Hall before sending a dollar. It was a scam. The…