Scam Alert: Fraudulent Emails Impersonating Planning Department

Published on June 11, 2026

Public Notice: Scam Alert - June 2026

Montclair Township is warning residents and businesses about a scam email falsely claiming to be from the Montclair Planning Board, Board of Adjustment or Planning Department. Scammers may use a variety of fake sender addresses that appear official and request payment for purported Planning Board-related matters.

The scam appears to target applicants with matters before the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment, likely using information from publicly available meeting agendas and documents.

The fraudulent messages may include fake invoices and instructions to submit payment by wire transfer. These emails are not from Montclair Township. The Planning Department will never request payment via wire transfer.

Do not click any links or open any attachments contained in these messages. Do not reply, send payment, or share any personally identifiable information or other sensitive information, including financial or medical information.

If you receive one of these emails, do not respond, click any links, or send payment. Please forward the message to info@montclairnjusa.org (as an attachment, if possible) so the Township can investigate. You should also report the message as phishing using your email provider's built-in reporting feature (for example, “Report phishing” in Gmail or “Report > Phishing” in Outlook). After reporting it, delete the message.

Anyone who has sent payment in response to one of these emails should contact the Montclair Police Department  at (973)-744-123 and file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

For verification of any Planning Department-related communication, please contact the Planning Department at (973) 509-4954.