The Prince George County Police Department announced on Apr. 14 that scammers are impersonating county officials in a new phishing scheme targeting local residents and business owners.
Officials say the scam involves fraudsters pretending to be from the Planning and Zoning departments, contacting individuals with active building permits or planning applications. These individuals receive convincing emails or voicemails that appear professional, sometimes using the names of real staff members and including fake invoices designed to look like official county documents.
“These scams are designed to look and sound very real,” said Major Nicholas. “They often include the names of actual staff members to create a false sense of legitimacy and urgency.” The police outlined several warning signs, such as requests for payment through non-traditional methods like Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, cryptocurrency, or gift cards; high-pressure tactics threatening permit cancellation or legal action; and email addresses using public domains instead of official county domains.
The department advises citizens to independently verify any unexpected payment requests by contacting the Planning Department or Treasurer’s Office directly through numbers listed on the official county website. Residents are also urged not to click links or download attachments from unsolicited emails claiming government affiliation. Anyone targeted by these scams is encouraged to contact police at (804) 733-2770.
While this alert concerns financial scams affecting adults and businesses in Prince George County, recent school data shows there were 6,181 students enrolled in Prince George County Public Schools District during the 2023-24 school year according to state education records. Of these students, white students made up nearly half at 44.7%, followed by Black students at just over 30% as reported by Virginia’s Department of Education.
Prince George High School was noted as having the highest enrollment among seven schools in the district with 1,818 students during that period according to state figures. North Elementary School enrolled both the largest number of pre-kindergarten students—46 children making up over a quarter of all pre-K enrollments—and kindergarteners with 119 pupils accounting for about a quarter of all kindergartners in county schools according to enrollment data.
School enrollment rose slightly compared with last year—a total increase of about 1.2%—reflecting broader population trends within Prince George County based on education statistics.
Authorities continue working closely with other local agencies as they monitor this trend and seek ways to protect citizens from similar fraudulent activities.