Hernando County Government Phishing Email Alert
(Brooksville, FL) – It has been brought to the attention of Hernando County Government that a phishing email is going around appearing as if it were on behalf of the Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission and claiming to be the Economic Development Director, Valerie Pianta. This email is not a legitimate Hernando County Government email.
This particular email states “This email serves as official notice that the attached invoice represents the Application Review and Approval Fee required for the continuation and processing of your rezoning request. Settlement of this fee is essential for activating your file in the current review cycle and ensuring that your application receives a timely and complete evaluation.” The email then proceeds to provide false step by step instructions to settle the invoice and make payment. Please be cautious and do not open attachments from any unknown email addresses, contacts, or emails that seem suspicious and report it to Hernando County Government immediately.
This email did not come from Hernando County Government nor the Economic Development Director Valerie Pianta, and has been directly reported to multiple levels of law enforcement. Hernando County Government does not send banking information via email and would not ask for transfers of large sums of money.
If you are questioning whether you received a phishing email, please contact the Hernando County Government at 352-754-4000 to verify if the information you received was accurate. Here are some recommendations from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on how to protect yourself from scams: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/business-email-compromise
Please note: Neither Hernando County Economic Development or the Planning & Zoning Commission specifically ask for personal information, demand for invoices to be paid, or send sensitive information via email.
