The City of Carmel has been hit with a phishing email scam that has been sending notes appearing to be from Mayor Jim Brainard or City Council members. Anyone receiving this type of email is advised to immediately delete it without responding or forwarding.
This is what the email looks like:
From: James Brainard <citycouncil75@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2020 12:40 PM
To:
Subject: Hello
Hello, I need you to help me purchase some gift cards at the store for secret surprise gifts for some of the council members and Staff today, let me know if you can do that right away and also let you know the denominations because there is a sharp deadline for this request.
James Brainard,
Mayor.
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Phishing is a type of online scam where criminals send an email that appears to be from a legitimate source that then tries to get you to provide sensitive information. Please avoid this kind of trouble by deleting this email.