MENDOCINO CO., 8/25/26 — Mendocino County’s Planning and Building Services issued a warning Monday about an email scam posing as a county official asking for wire transfer.
The department said it received a report Monday that a new scam email is being sent to permit applicants. The email claims to be from Richard Angley, the department’s interim director, asking for additional funds to be paid via wire transfer to continue to process the permit. The department said it does not offer wire transfer as a form of payment.
According to the department, the scam emailer requests to communicate only via email, which the department said they will never do as they offer phone calls and in-person visits as forms of communication in addition to emails.
There are several ways to spot one of these scam emails. The department said the scam email comes from a domain of @usa.com, specifically angleyr-mendocinocounty.gov@usa.com. The county department noted that all emails from county officials come from addresses with a domain of @mendocinocounty.gov.
The department said the scam email also uses an incorrect address for the Fort Bragg office of 120 W. Fir St., and the correct address is 752 Franklin St.
The department encouraged anyone who may be unsure if an email is legitimate to contact the office via telephone at 707-234-6650. Anyone who does receive a scam email should not open attachments but can report the email as spam to their email service provider and delete the email.