Residents, contractors, developers, and business owners in Grants Pass and throughout Josephine County are being urged to remain alert after the U.S. Department of Justice warned of a nationwide fraud scheme designed to impersonate local planning and zoning agencies in an effort to steal money through fraudulent land use payment requests.
According to information released by the City of Grants Pass, the scam targets individuals and businesses involved in planning, zoning, development, permit, and land use processes. The fraudulent messages are crafted to appear as though they originate from legitimate city or county planning departments and often request payment for supposed application renewals, permit fees, or other land use-related expenses.
Officials say the scheme relies on convincing emails that closely resemble legitimate government correspondence. In many cases, scammers incorporate publicly available information from online planning and permitting systems, making the requests appear authentic. Property addresses, project names, permit numbers, or hearing information may all be included to give recipients the impression that the communication is connected to an active application or development project.
The Department of Justice has identified several warning signs associated with the scam. One of the most common is an email directing recipients to submit payment immediately, often creating a false sense of urgency. Investigators have also found that many of the fraudulent messages originate from the email domain usa.com, a commercial email service that is not affiliated with federal, state, or local government agencies.
Officials say another tactic involves sending fraudulent invoices shortly before or around the same time as scheduled public hearings or planning meetings. By timing the messages to coincide with legitimate government proceedings, scammers attempt to make their requests appear routine and credible.
The City of Grants Pass is reminding residents that official correspondence from city employees will always originate from an email address ending with @grantspassoregon.gov. City officials encourage recipients to carefully inspect the sender’s complete email address rather than relying solely on the display name, which can easily be manipulated to resemble a legitimate government office.
The city is also emphasizing that it does not conduct business using several practices commonly employed by scammers. “The City of Grants Pass will never ask anyone to wire funds as payment,” the city said in its public notice. “The City of Grants Pass will never demand that all correspondence must be conducted via email.”
While the city offers secure options for electronic payments and electronic receipts, officials stress that participation in those services is voluntary and coordinated through legitimate municipal channels rather than unsolicited email requests.
The warning comes as government agencies across the country continue to report increasingly sophisticated cyber fraud schemes that exploit publicly available records and official-looking documents. Criminals frequently use information posted through online permitting portals and public meeting records to create convincing invoices that can be difficult to distinguish from authentic government communications.
Although the current alert focuses on planning and zoning transactions, officials say the techniques mirror those used in other forms of business email compromise and government impersonation fraud, where victims are persuaded to send money before verifying the legitimacy of the request.
For residents and businesses in Josephine County, officials recommend exercising caution whenever an unexpected payment request is received by email, particularly if it includes instructions for immediate payment or directs funds to unfamiliar accounts. Verifying requests through official government contact information rather than replying directly to the email can help prevent financial loss.
Anyone who receives a suspicious message claiming to be from the City of Grants Pass Community Development Department is encouraged to contact the department directly before taking any action. Officials say a quick phone call can confirm whether the communication is legitimate and help prevent residents or businesses from becoming victims of the fraud.
The City of Grants Pass is advising anyone with questions about planning or zoning-related correspondence to contact the Community Development Department at 541-450-6060 to verify the authenticity of any email or payment request before responding.