Scammers are sending fraudulent EPA notice of violation letters to businesses alleging environmental violations and resulting fines, the agency’s watchdog said in an alert.
EPA’s inspector general said the alert aims “to highlight this increasingly common scam.” Under the scam, businesses who are the target of the attack receive emails or USPS mail saying they are in violation of an environmental regulation and owe thousands of dollars in fines.
Though it is unclear how many businesses have been affected by the scam, multiple businesses have received the letter from scammers. Both EPA and the EPA Office of Inspector General have received a “significant number” of those letters from targeted businesses, according to KellyJune Stout, EPA OIG spokesperson.
The origin of the letter is still being investigated, Stout told POLITICO’s E&E News.
