In Ennis, Texas, the veneer of a trusted city commission has become the latest mask for fraudsters. The Ennis Police Department issued a warning through social media about a scam falsely leveraging the City of Ennis Planning and Zoning Commission's identity to create sham invoices. The fraudulent bills, targeting local businesses, bear a deceiving appearance of legitimacy but come from emails that end in .usa instead of the city's official .gov domain.
The false invoices are asking for wire transfer payments. However, "The City of Ennis will never ask for payment via wire transfer," the alert stressed. The genuine procedure for statement delivery and payment collection is through OpenGov, with check, money order, or credit card as accepted forms of payment, no wiring required. In a post by the Ennis Police Department, they informed the public of this deceit on their official Facebook page.
For those who find themselves in receipt of such dubious requests, Assistant Director of Planning and Development Troy Foreman can be reached at 972-875-6442, ext. 2309, or via email at [email protected]. The Ennis Police Department is equally at the ready, available at 972-875-4462 to field concerns regarding the scam, which they are actively investigating as fraud.
