Sacramento and neighboring Folsom have quietly scrubbed developer contact details from public permit pages after a run of fake invoice attempts that mined project filings to target applicants. The move comes after reports of official looking emails demanding thousands of dollars and directing recipients to wire money, prompting staff and developers to back the redactions as a way to blunt the fraud while still keeping core project information public.
As reported by the Sacramento Business Journal, the City of Sacramento blacked out developer contact information on public facing project applications after three developers reported suspicious emails that claimed to be from the city and requested hefty fee payments. City officials told the Journal they moved quickly to pull that contact information while they study longer term changes to the online portal.
Folsom's Community Development page now carries a fraud alert that warns of fake invoices using the city logo and email addresses such as "[email protected]" and "[email protected]" to solicit wire transfers. The notice urges anyone who receives a questionable message to forward it to the Planning division for review and directs applicants to use the official ePermit system for any payments.
Sacramento County's planning site issues a similar warning and reminds applicants that the county does not accept wire transfers, stating that any such request is fraudulent. Instead, customers are told to pay online by credit card or eCheck or in person at the cashier's counter, with step by step instructions on confirming legitimate invoices and contact information for reporting suspected scams.
Placer County and other nearby jurisdictions have rolled out matching alerts and say they are reviewing portal settings to mask applicant names and emails. Officials say the pattern lines up with a national wave of business email compromise and fake invoice schemes that mine public records to craft convincing bills, and they advise victims to file complaints with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3 so law enforcement can track the activity and, when possible, claw back funds.
What officials changed
According to the Sacramento Business Journal, city staff stripped out or blacked out applicant emails and phone numbers on public project listings, while keeping site descriptions, timelines and public hearing details visible so neighbors can still follow what is being built. Officials say the tweak removes an easy piece of data that scammers were using to pose as municipal staff, without gutting transparency around the projects themselves.
How to protect yourself
If an unexpected permit invoice lands in your inbox, do not pay it and do not wire funds. Instead, confirm any payment instructions by calling the official phone numbers listed on the city or county permit portal. Forward suspicious messages to your local planning office, since Folsom asks people to send suspect emails to [email protected] and Sacramento County directs questions to [email protected], and contact your bank right away if you already sent money. Then file a complaint with the FBI's IC3 so investigators have a record of the attempt and can watch for patterns across multiple reports.
developers' frustration with Sacramento's permitting system has been covered previously, which adds context to why officials are trying to shield applicants even as they work to keep approvals moving. For now, planners say core project details for public notice will remain online while they patch the privacy gaps in their portals that scammers have learned to exploit.
