St. Pete Beach Alerts Residents to Fraudulent Scheme Targeting Zoning and Planning Applicants

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ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — Authorities in St. Pete Beach have issued a warning to residents about a scam targeting individuals applying for zoning or planning permits.

The latest victim was a business owner who sought city approval to add a balcony to their restaurant. The suspicious email was promptly reported to the city.

Amid this issue, Florida SNAP recipients are facing delays in their November benefits due to pending federal funds.

Channel 8 spoke with John Brooks Murray, owner of Baywaters Apartments, who noted that such scams are increasingly prevalent. “We receive unsolicited calls, text messages, and emails all day,” Murray stated.

“Everyone knows each other, so we watch out for each other,” Murray said.

He said they try as hard as they can to stay on top of it by staying connected, but he was unaware of another scheme posing as the city to target homeowners and business owners trying to expand or build on their property.

“To the extent that we see this remaining an ongoing issue, we’ll continue to monitor and inform the public through our different communication channels,” said Marc Portugal with the City of St. Pete Beach.

City officials said the imposters were able to track down people who recently submitted zoning or planning permits, and they sent them messages asking for hundreds or thousands of dollars for an approval fee.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that the scammers are latching onto this,” Murray said. “I mean they look for vulnerable areas and they take advantage of people who are desperate. There are a lot of desperate people out here on the barrier islands.”

The people who received them had a feeling something was up and reported it, but city leaders are warning the public because many of the emails appeared to have legitimate and specific information related to these people’s properties.

“So to them it seemed like a realistic amount of money,” Portugal said. “If people are concerned about the legitimacy of a communication from the city – they should definitely call planning and zoning department and find out whether or not the request is legitimate.”

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St. Pete Beach Alerts Residents to Fraudulent Scheme Targeting Zoning and Planning Applicants

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