Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | November 16, 2026 | wbjournal.com REAL ESTATE INSIDER BY PAULA J. OWEN WBJ Senior Staff Writer W hen Worcester developer Robert Branca received an email demanding $9,000 in fees he had already paid to the Town of Auburn for a commercial development project, he was immediately on guard. Branca and a civil engineer at Worcester- based Branded Realty Group both received an email that looked almost identical to every other official email sent by Auburn Town Planner Rose Russell about the 481 Washington St. project, yet this one seemed suspicious to Branca not only because he had already paid the fees, but also because the email address looked sketchy to him, with the extension continuing aer ".gov." "It requested a wire and the town does not do that – I always paid in check and already had approvals and was reasonably certain I paid all the fees," he said. "But, this summer, sometimes I had multiple hearings a week. It can get confusing and we're constantly paying these things (fees). When you are seeking approval from the town and doing business with them, you want to pay on time. Especially small towns with small budgets, they need the fees." e town did not send the email. Instead, it was one of many phishing emails that officials say is part of a national scam over the past year in which scammers pose as municipal officials. e emails contain detailed, accurate information about planning and zoning requests, including property addresses, case numbers and the true names of city and county officials. ey emphasize urgency, threatening delays or other obstacles in the permitting process if the applicant does not pay immediately. e email scam has occurred in several Central Massachusetts communities, including Worcester, West Boylston, Leicester and Auburn. e FBI has issued a warning about this phishing scam. Dated Nov. 4, with the subject "481 Washington Street - Site Plan Approval," the email sent to Branca said it was from: "Town Of Auburn Planning & Zoning Division, with a send address of planning.auburnma. gov@usa.com. Aer investigating, Branca concluded the email was part of a phishing scam in which agents use AI to target developers on strict deadlines, who oen manage multiple projects in different communities and whose reputation for paying bills on time is paramount. Scammers apparently use AI agents to search public databases at lightning speed, including town and city planning and zoning agendas and applications, meeting minutes, and other public information, to compile official-looking emails targeting developers and extort fees that can total thousands of dollars. "I said, 'OK. is is a scam,'" Branca said. "And I am sure if they got mine, they have all the other (town's) applicants' data. Branded Realty Group plans to build a Dunkin' on the Washington Street property. "e site is a former gas station that requires cleanup and we have to certify with the town and state DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) and do property tests and make sure everything is within parameters. We have to make sure it is done right and we are eager to get the site cleaned up, so I don't know if the scammers knew that part of it," Branca said. e scam could have cost his development firm thousands of dollars in fees already paid for his Auburn project, which is going through the process to construct a 6,400-square-foot retail building featuring a 2,400-square-foot Dunkin' location and 4,000 square feet of additional retail space. Documents he submitted to the Auburn Zoning Board of Appeals are available to the public. "(e email) was just about $9,000 but if they added the cost of a peer review, it could have been $50,000 or more," Branca said. "ose (peer reviews) are public records, so they'll (scammers) eventually figure out how to ask for those too. I'm betting if I paid the $8,900, there would have been an additional bill. Once they scam a mark, they keep going back to the well." e email emphasizes that it is critical the fees are paid if Branca wants to move forward with the project and then it instructs him what to do next: "is message serves as an official reminder regarding the outstanding Application Review & Approval Fee associated with your Site Plan Approval Application for the property located at 481 Washington Street. To proceed with the final approval process, we kindly request that you settle the attached invoice for the application review & approval fee at your earliest convenience. Timely payment of this fee is crucial to ensuring the smooth progression of your permit application through all required review and approval stages, including necessary compliance evaluations." e email continues with the "Next Steps: 1. Reply to this email to request the invoice wire instructions. 2. Settle the issued wire instructions in full to enable the approval process. 3. Return a signed copy of the payment confirmation to this email for verification and inclusion into the commission agenda." e email ends just like many emails Branca received from Auburn for the project: "ank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Best regards. Rose Russell Town Planner." Despite the similar form to previous emails from the town, Branca paused and questioned the email's authenticity. "I thought, 'Why are you sending this now? I already paid for this stuff.' I had already got the permit done and was ready to go," Branca said. "e town won't proceed unless you pay it. With developers, time is money and these scammers take advantage of that." e scammers understand the developers' mindset and try to leverage that. "I said, 'I have to get the word out on this or other people may just pay.' When you are working on multiple projects, you don't want things like that to slow you down and you want to maintain a good reputation and pay your bills on time – that is important for people going through that public approval process," he said. Branca said the scammers can use AI to obtain all the information they need. He said he heard from a south coast developer who received a similar email and paid it. "He got duped," he CMass developers targeted in sophisticated municipal permit fee scam Auburn Town Hall PHOTO | GOOGLE MAPS Robert Branca, Branded Realty Group

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