Phishing Scam Alert – County of Santa Barbara Planning & Development

The County of Santa Barbara has been made aware of a phishing scam currently circulating in which individuals are receiving fraudulent emails requesting a response and submission of fee payments. These emails are not legitimate and are not sent by the County of Santa Barbara or the Planning & Development Department. 

Phishing is a form of online fraud where scammers impersonate trusted organizations to deceive individuals  into providing sensitive information or sending money. 

This scam may involve emails that appear legitimate and include an attached or embedded “invoice” stating  that a payment is due. The message is intended to create urgency and prompt recipients to click links, open  attachments, or submit payment to a fraudulent source. 

The fraudulent emails may appear to come from “Planning Commission County Of Santa Barbara” with a domain address of USA.com and may include the subject line “Payment Request – Application Review &  Approval Fee”, along with project descriptions and case numbers. If you receive one of these emails, do not  click on any links or open any attachments. 

Please be advised that all official payments to Planning & Development are only accepted in person at our  public counters or through the County’s official website: www.countyofsb.org/160/Planning-Development. 

To help protect yourself from phishing attempts, always carefully verify the sender’s email address. Official  County of Santa Barbara staff will only send emails from addresses ending in @countyofsb.org or  @co.santa-barbara.ca.us. 

If you believe you have been the victim of a scam, please contact the District Attorney’s scam hotline at 805- 568-2442 or email reportfraud@countyofsb.org for resources and support. 

If you are unsure whether an email you received from Planning & Development is legitimate, please contact  the department directly at 805-568-2000 for verification before taking any action.