No wonder. Shroom Wonders, that is.

A fictitious business has sprouted, named Shroom Wonders, falsely claiming to sell psilocybin “magic” mushrooms from a storefront in Manitou Springs.

However, the direct sale of psilocybin mushrooms is illegal. Also, the address given by the website belongs to a legitimate business — Mushroom Monday, a souvenir gift shop.

The city of Manitou Springs sent out a public notice Tuesday, warning of the fake business, warning that it seems to be a scam, using a professional-looking website and similarly-named established business as a cover. Manitou Springs police investigated the website and found its ownership and database information were missing or redacted, but records indicate it is registered in Nairobi, Kenya. Furthermore, the Manitou Springs City Clerk confirmed that there are no business licenses for “Shroom Wonders” anywhere in Colorado.

The fraudulent website lists a Colorado-based phone number, 720-619-1282, which directs callers to a voicemail before sending a text message requesting payment via PayPal’s “Family and Friends” option. Sending money via that method offers no buyer protection.

Cindy White, an owner at Mushroom Monday, describes her business as family-run, with 50 years of history in Manitou. She said that while tourists have wandered into the store for years looking for mushrooms for sale, a few days ago customers started coming into the store specifically seeking psilocybin mushrooms, and showing store employees the fictitious website with Mushroom Monday’s address.

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White said she contacted Manitou police, and reached out to Google to protest the co-opting of the address.

“I got into a conversation with this person (running Shroom Wonders) and they threatened to burn the store down when I said that I’d contacted the police,” she said.

The website for Shroom Wonders appeared to be down as of Tuesday. The business still appears on multiple business directories though, listing the company phone number and promising “top-quality psilocybin mushrooms from trusted global suppliers,” available “with easy online shopping.”

The company phone number was still accepting potential customer voicemails as of Tuesday afternoon. A Gazette inquiry to speak with the ownership of Shroom Wonders was not immediately returned.

Public confusion about where and how to receive psilocybin is understandable.

In 2022 Colorado voters passed Amendment 122 to decriminalize some psychedelic substances and begin allowing them to be used at “natural healing” treatment centers. Proponents say the hallucinogenic qualities of the mushrooms can be used to treat certain maladies such as post-traumatic stress disorder. State regulators with the Department of Revenue’s Natural Medicine Division recently approved the first eight license applications for the nascent industry. Cities cannot ban the centers completely but are allowed to place limits on their locations .

Manitou Springs spokeswoman Cassandra Hessel said the city approved an ordinance in December regulating the “time, place and manner,” that psilocybin-related businesses could operate within city limits. The ordinance restricts such businesses to commercial zones only, and prohibits them from being opened within 1,000 feet of schools, or child care facilities, as well as within 500 feet of any alcohol or drug rehab facility.

“It’s all going to be very new. It’s something we’re all trying to navigate,” Hessel said, adding that to date the city had not had anyone apply for such a business.

Colorado Springs City Council passed its zoning guidelines in November, establishing a 1-mile buffer zone between treatment centers and any school, day/child care centers, or drug and alcohol rehab center, barring any such business from being established in much of the city.

Anyone who has attempted to make a purchase through ShroomWonders.com or has additional information about the scam is encouraged to contact Manitou Springs police by calling El Paso County dispatch at 719-390-5555.