Tri-Cities residents targeted by scammers pretending to be officials

Tri-City residents are being warned about two sophisticated scams that are designed to seem like they are coming from legitimate sources.

The city of Richland said residents have reported fraudulent emails that appear to be coming from their permit office. This scam was also reported in Franklin County earlier this year.

The second scam is from callers pretending to be law enforcement claiming a person has missed jury duty and demanding payment under threat of legal action.

Permit application scam

Richland residents have been receiving emails demanding payment for outstanding fees for permit applications.

The emails include spoofed city staff names, fake attachments and requests for wire transfers, according to a social media post from the city.

If you believe you have received a suspicious email, don’t respond or send money. Contact city staff directly to verify whether it’s a scam.

City staff can be contacted at 509-942-7794 to verify a bill is real before making a payment.

Official city emails only come from “@ci.richland.wa.us” or “@richlandwa.gov” email addresses.

Legitimate permitting notifications are sent from permittech@ci.richland.wa.us or noreply@ci.richland.wa.us.

The city does not accept wire transfers as payments for permits.

Real payments can be made over the phone, in-person or online through the secure permitting portal.

The building and permitting office is at Richland City Hall, 625 Swift Blvd.

Jury duty scam

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is warning about a widespread “missed jury duty” scam.

Callers are pretending to be a now retired deputy, Sgt. Kent, claiming the resident has missed jury duty and is demanding a payment.

The scammers will call from what appears to be a local phone number, try to keep callers on the line and demand they go to a gas station for gift cards or use an ATM to pay in Bitcoin.

Law enforcement will never call demanding money, send a person to buy gift cards or take payments in Bitcoin, the sheriff’s office said.

“If someone tells you to settle a ‘legal matter’ with cryptocurrency, congratulations, you’ve met a scammer,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a social media post.

The fake telephone number being used was 509-743-3116.

“Stay safe, stay skeptical, and remember, if it smells like a scam… (it’s a scam).”