ASHFIELD — The town is advising residents that invoices they may have received, claiming to be from the “Ashfield Planning Division,” are fake and should not be paid.
Ashfield does not have a Planning Division, though it does have a Planning Board. A copy of the fraudulent letter features the town seal and the electronic signature of Planning Board Chair Carter Carter.
According to a post published Tuesday on the Ashfield town website, the invoice comes from the email planning.ashfield.org@usa.com. The official Planning Board email, on the other hand, is planning_brd@ashfield.org.
The fraudulent invoice requests $2,000 for a “Licensure & Certification Approval Fee,” $1,503 for “Application Processing & Review,” $1,550 for a “Legal & Compliance Evaluation,” $500 for “Recordkeeping & Inclusion in Official Agenda,” and $1,400 for a “Facility & Infrastructure Evaluation,” coming to a total of $6,953.
Attached to the invoice is an email that encourages the resident to pay their supposed outstanding bill with the board.
“To proceed with the final approval process,” the fraudulent invoice reads, “we kindly request that you settle the attached invoice for the application review & approval fee at your earliest convenience. Timely payment of this fee is crucial to ensuring the smooth progression of your permit application through all required review and approval stages, including necessary compliance evaluations.”
The letter goes on to say that the money should be sent to the “Planning Division” via wire transfer, which the town advises no board or committee would ever request.
Ashfield asks residents to not pay these bills via wire transfer if they receive such a message. The full notice from the town can be viewed at ashfield.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/450.
