ATTENTION RESIDENTS: FRAUDULANT INVOICES - ONTARIO COUNTY PLANNING BOARD REVIEW

Dear Supervisors, Mayors, PB & ZBA assistants,

We have received calls from 3 municipalities or local municipal planning and zoning board applicants regarding fraudulent invoices (of $6,000 to $9,000) from Ontario County for County Planning Board Review.

As you know, there is no fee for review and referral to Ontario County Planning Board.  We have removed applicant name from public materials including CRC/CRB agendas and minutes starting with CRC minutes that will be posted on Wed. Aug 13.  The project address must necessarily remain public. 

For projects referred to CPB, please let applicants know there is no fee associated with County Planning Board review and they should not pay any invoice that appears to come from Ontario County Planning.   I will be updating the memo to referred applicants to reflect this information and distributing later this week.

 I have attached a redacted digital sample of a fraudulent invoice.  As you can see, it includes the Ontario County logo and address. The sending e-mail includes .gov but is a .com address.  The request to pay by wire transfer only should be a clue that the invoice is not legitimate. 

If you hear about applicants to your boards receiving such invoices, please send an e-mail to me with the name of the applicant, the project address, and the invoice amount if known, though no one should be forwarding such e-mails or open any links in them.

Local municipalities may also want to review whether they are publicly posting more contact information than is necessary on their website. 

This message has already been sent directly to CEOs, municipal clerks, and development directors.

Linda Phillips, AICP:

Senior Planner

Ontario County Planning Department

20 Ontario Street

Canandaigua, NY, 14524

(585) 396-4050