Corvallis, OR. — Corvallis officials are warning residents to remain vigilant after a recent wave of financial scams targeting individuals involved in land use applications.
According to the City, scammers have used publicly available information tied to active land use cases to identify potential victims. Those individuals were then contacted with fraudulent emails posing as City building officials. The messages included fake invoices requesting payment for services and directed recipients to send funds via wire transfer.
City officials emphasized that legitimate payments will never be requested through wire transfer, a key indicator that a message is fraudulent.
The recent incidents mirror a similar pattern of scam attempts reported in late 2025, suggesting ongoing efforts by bad actors to exploit permitting and development processes.
Residents are encouraged to carefully review email communications, paying close attention to sender addresses, phone numbers, and overall message quality. Officials noted that scams often include subtle red flags such as grammatical errors, unusual formatting, or unfamiliar department names, even when they appear to come from real City staff.
For land use services, the City provides secure online payment options and advises customers to use only official channels when submitting payments.
Anyone who believes they may have been targeted or fallen victim to a scam is urged to report the incident to the local police department at 541 766 6911.
City leaders say awareness and caution remain the best defenses as scammers continue to refine their tactics.
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