Theft/Property — FL — reported 2026-06-21
SUMMARY
A Florida man was accused of carrying out a deceptive email scheme that tricked a DeSoto County resident into paying thousands of dollars in fraudulent permit fees.
KEY FACTS
- Incident type: Theft/Property
- Location: FL
- Date reported: 2026-06-21
- Suspect: age 48
- Victim(s): 1 (DeSoto County resident)
- Status: arrest
REPORTED DETAILS
- The suspect created a convincing impersonation of a local government agency, leading the victim to believe they were completing a legitimate step in the county permit approval process.
- The email allegedly played a critical role in convincing the victim that the request was genuine.
- The fraudulent message claimed to originate from the 'DeSoto County Board of Adjustment'.
- The victim submitted payment after believing the funds were necessary to continue moving forward with the permit application.
- Authorities discovered that the funds had been deposited into a bank account using a name designed to appear official, listed as 'DESOTO COUNTY-BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT'.