AUBURN, Calif. — Placer County is alerting residents and business owners about an email invoice scam targeting individuals who have submitted development-related permit applications to the Community Development Resource Agency.
CDRA has confirmed one recent attempt by a scammer to solicit payment from a Placer County planning entitlement applicant. The scam is similar to a fraudulent email reported in Nevada City in recent weeks.
The scam involves the harvesting of public documents available through the permit review process and sending deceptive emails and invoices to applicants requesting urgent payment of fees to continue the processing of an application.
“We take the safety and privacy of our customers very seriously,” said CDRA Director Paul Hellman. “As our technology advances, we have implemented changes within our permit portal to better prevent scammers from misuing public information, including ways to enhance privacy around applicant names and contact information.”
Key indicators of a scam
- Requests for payment via unsecure methods rather than via secure, established county channels
- Emails or documents that falsely appear to be from the county
- Irregularities within emails such as referencing Placer County as a city or irregular email domains or suffixes (Placer County’s official email domain/suffix is placer.ca.gov)
We offer the following advice to protect yourself from scams:
- Make online payments via secure, established county channels only
- Avoid clicking on links or attachments from unknown sources (e.g., email accounts with a domain/suffix other than placer.ca.gov)
- If you have any concerns or questions about an email payment request from CDRA, call any individual staff member you’ve interacted with previously or call 530-745-3000 (Auburn Office) or 530-581-6200 (Tahoe City Office)