Capitol News

City of East Lansing officials have issued a warning to residents about a scam involving fake invoices sent by email. According to the City, these emails use information that is publicly available and are made to look as though they come from City departments.

Recently, a homeowner who had an application pending with the City received an invoice requesting payment via wire transfer. Officials emphasized that the City does not accept wire transfers for any payments. The fraudulent email used a domain that looked similar to official addresses but was not legitimate.

Residents and business owners are advised to take several steps before making any payments in response to emailed invoices. These include verifying that emails come from an address ending in @cityofeastlansing.com, checking for unusual payment instructions—since the City will never request money be wired—and examining invoices for typos or generic language. Scammers may use actual service details found online to make their messages seem authentic.

The City also recommends confirming any unexpected or suspicious invoice directly with them by calling (517) 337-1731 rather than replying to the message. Additionally, people should avoid clicking on attachments or links within suspicious emails, as these could contain malware or direct recipients to fraudulent websites.

"The City of East Lansing takes scam complaints very seriously. Scam complaints are referred to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to help protect other people from being targeted by scammers."

A sample of the fraudulent invoice and email can be viewed in this PDF: View the invoice and email (PDF)