City of Cape Coral warns public of fraudulent invoice scam

CAPE CORAL, Fla. —

The city of Cape Coral is warning its residents about a scam involving the fraudulent issuance of city invoices in an attempt to collect money.

The city says that scammers use its seal to forge an invoice that looks like it's from the city, requesting payments via wire transfer. They send the message from a nongovernment address.

They say that scams like this typically use the "@USA.com" email domain because it can appear to be from a government agency. They add that the city will never request payments via wire transfer or third-party applications like PayPal, Venmo or Zelle.

The city says if you receive an invoice that appears to be from it but looks suspicious, then you can bring it to the cashier's office at City Hall. It can verify the invoice and, if valid, collect payment in person.

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