These emails have been known to be sent from developmentservices.santarosa.fl.gov@usa.com, planning.santarosa.fl.gov@usa.com, or a similar email service, which is NOT a real Santa Rosa County government email address. View a larger image of an example of a fake invoice online here and an example of a fake email online here.
The scam email includes an attached fake invoice requesting a wire transfer payment, which Santa Rosa County does not accept as a valid form of payment. These fraudulent emails are designed to appear official but are not associated with Santa Rosa County in any way. The emails are intended to cause a panic response by claiming the applicant owes thousands of dollars.
Santa Rosa County will never ask for payment via wire transfer. View an example of a real invoice online here, which is on real county letterhead and lists accepted forms of payment. Any applicant who receives an email requesting a wire transfer for application fees should immediately disregard the email.
To ensure the legitimacy of any application fees, applicants are advised to:
- Carefully review the sender’s email address. All official Santa Rosa County emails from planning and zoning will either come from a “Non-Reply MGO” email address or will end with @santarosa.fl.gov. Be cautious of any communication claiming to be from the county that does not follow this format.
- Never respond to emails requesting payment via wire transfer.
- Verify any invoices or communications by directly contacting the planning and zoning department at 850-981-7000.
If an applicant has sent money or feels they have been a victim of a scam, contact the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office at 850-983-1190. If an applicant receives a suspicious email about the approval of a planning, zoning, or building-related application or has doubts about an email’s authenticity, contact the planning and zoning department directly by calling 850-981-7000.
