Newton Warns Against Email Scam That Is Impersonating Local Government

NEWTON, MA — The city is warning against a scam in which the perpetrators are pretending to be from Newton’s Planning Department.

A resident reported receiving a “processing fee” from the department that charged $4,678 for an application the resident had going before the Historic Commission.

“The emailed letter from the scammer includes a correct application number and the correct property address in Newton,” Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said. “It threatens that failing to pay within three business days could result in ‘deferral of your application to a later meeting.’ The correspondence specifies that the payment must be made through a wire transfer.”

Fuller insisted that the emails are a scam and that the Historic Commission does not charge an application fee. In rare situations where a fee is required, the resident is notified through Newton’s online permitting portal known as NewGov.

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