'All levels of government' being impersonated by scammers, says Municipalities N.L.

The town of Conception Bay South is warning residents of a scam impersonating the municipality over email as Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador says phishing emails of this kind are all across the province.

“Scammers are impersonating town representatives and circulating an attachment to make the email appear legitimate,” says a warning posted to the town of Conception Bay South's website and social media channels.

The sender claims to have a secure document, and the email includes instructions to open the attachment. However, the sender's email address is [email protected] and a phone number included in the email has an area co de of 549, which isn't currently use in any jurisdiction in North America.

The town is warning people to not open unexpected attachments and advises them to look at a sender’s email address to ensure it is coming from a legitimate source.

Alexis Foster, MNL's director of advocacy and communications, said these phishing scams are not a rare occurrence for towns across the province.

“We hear from municipalities regularly that they are hearing from residents that these emails are kind of going out,” she told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show .

“So unfortunately, it seems to be happening everywhere. It’s across businesses. It’s across municipalities. All levels of government.”

Foster said a scammer recently impersonated MNL, reaching out to potential vendors for the association’s upcoming conference, trade show and annual general meetings, offering to the vendor list. Foster said that information is not something MNL would .

Foster said there are a few precautions people can do to protect themselves against such scams.

“When you get one of these emails, have a quick look at it. Review the email that it’s coming from,” she said, adding the email address could look similar to the legitimate email address or have the same name but from a gmail account. “Something that’s not quite right.”

There also might be typos in the email itself that stand out or other bits of incorrect information, Foster said. In the case where MNL was being impersonated, she said the sender had included incorrect dates and the wrong location for the event.

“These are some little things that you can do right off the bat to determine if it is a phishing scam,” she said.

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Foster said some tell-tale signs of emails that aren't legitimate include a threat of some sort — pay your water bill or a service will be disconnected, for example — which creates a sense of urgency.

People can also look up the right information and reach out to confirm if an email is legitimate, said Foster, which can also give municipalities a heads up that someone is impersonating them and in turn, they can a public warning.

She added people should not click on links in the phishing email.

Elizabeth Whitten is a journalist with CBC News, based in St. John's.

With files from The St. John’s Morning Show

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