Scammers Impersonate Fremont City Officials

FREMONT, CA — The city of Fremont is warning residents about a phone scam targeting people who have used the City’s permit portal to submit an application.

Individuals claiming to be City staff are calling Fremont permit applicants and requesting payments, city officials warn.

“These scammers appear to be reviewing publicly available permit information on the City’s permitting portal, Citizen Access. They are then contacting permit applicants and asking for payment over the phone while citing the limited information available on the portal,” according to city officials.

Unlike the scammers, Fremont permitting staff never ask for applicants’ personal or financial information in phone calls or texts.

The City is urging community members to be wary of calls from an unlisted phone number or from a phone number that shows as “spam.”

Permits that residents can apply for via Citizen Access include building, planning, engineering, fire and tree permits. The City’s website page titled “Permit and Plan Records Request” notes that the online permit portal enables “anyone [to] look up permit record information from anywhere.”

For questions or concerns about the phone scam, contact the City’s Building and Safety division at building@fremont.gov.