Fraudsters are sending fake invoices to Huntersville businesses, posing as the town's Planning Department and demanding wire-transfer payments, the Town of Huntersville warned in an alert posted Sunday, Aug. 2 and updated Monday, Aug. 3.
The scammers are using AI and other tools to craft emails and messages that appear to come from actual Planning Department staff, the town said. The goal: trick business owners into wiring money or clicking malicious links.
Town departments would never request payment via wire transfer, the alert states. A formal payment process is already in place.
What to watch for
The town identified several red flags:
- Urgent or threatening language such as "Act now or face legal action"
- Requests for payment via wire transfer or through embedded links
- Email addresses or caller IDs that look legitimate but are spoofed
- Requests for bank account information or passwords
What businesses should do
The town advises businesses not to respond to suspicious messages, not to click unknown links or download unexpected attachments, and to verify any communication by contacting Planning staff directly at 704-875-7000 or [email protected]. The department is located at 14704 N. Old Statesville Road.
Businesses that believe they've been targeted should report the incident to local authorities. They can also contact North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson's consumer hotline at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or file a complaint at ncdoj.gov.
A regional pattern
The alert follows a broader series of government-impersonation fraud incidents across Mecklenburg County. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office logged more than 400 impersonation scam reports between January and August 2025, including one case where a victim lost $30,000 after a caller spoofed the county's official number and posed as a former officer.
"These scammers catch people off guard or when they're most vulnerable and force them to pay the money immediately," Sheriff Garry L. McFadden said in an Aug. 21, 2025, press release about that surge. "Rest assured, we will never call and tell you to bring money."
The Huntersville Police Department has also been conducting fraud prevention "Safety Talk" sessions at local churches and community groups. Neighborhoods, HOAs or civic organizations interested in a presentation can contact Officer Matthew Choice at [email protected].
The Planning Department urged business owners to contact the department directly before paying any unexpected invoice.
