Business owners in Pima County may have been sent scam invoices in recent weeks. Emails using the official County branding could have received legitimate-looking invoices related to permits or other fees with Pima County Development Services.
Pima County is now alerting recipients of the scams, pointing out what to watch out for. Some red flags include misspelled words, an email address not ending in "pima.gov," or any mention of a request that the recipient never made.
Pima County Development Services will only request a fee or bill payments from vendors through their permitting system, according to the news release. Vendors will never be asked to pay the department via wire transfer or fee settlement.
To address any concerns around scams, call 520-724-9000 or email buildingsafetyadmin@pima.gov.
Pima County residents may have also received calls from seemingly real County phone numbers which request personal information or credit card numbers. These are also potential scams. The County is encouraging residents to look up the department and call the corresponding phone number on the webpage to verify the legitimacy. Anyone looking for assistance with this matter can call 520-724-9999.
If residents believe they are witnessing fraud attempts, Pima County says scams should be reported to local law enforcement. A consumer complaint may also be filed with the Arizona Attorney General's Office, while scam calls may be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.
