City Warns of Financial Scams Targeting Land Use Customers

December 22, 2025 - The City of Corvallis is investigating several attempted financial scams that targeted customers engaged in land use services at the City. 

In the scams, victims were identified using information associated with open land use cases. Scammers contacted those individuals and sent fake invoices under the names of City building officials requesting payment as part of a land use process. The fake invoices included instructions to send the payment via wire transfer.

City officials are reminding the public that payments will never be requested via wire transfer.

Keep in mind these tips to ensure you don't fall victim to a financial scam.

• Carefully examine emails to ensure they are coming from legitimate City email addresses. Sophisticated scams often use names of actual City employees, together with generic email address or unfamiliar phone numbers.
• Look for grammatical errors, improper punctuation, or unfamiliar department names.
• For land use services, customers have the option of paying through a secure online service. The City will never ask for payment via wire transfer.

If you have fallen victim to an online financial scam, call the Police Department at 541-766-6911 to file a report.