Pendleton Planning Commission applicants are targeted in a scam
By Terry Murry on Thursday, August 13th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
PENDLETON – The city of Pendleton warns residents, developers, and applicants about a scam that requests additional fees for permits and development applications. Earlier this week an applicant contacted the city after receiving an email requesting an additional $5,000 be paid in fees for an application submitted to the planning commission.
“This email is fraudulent and has been reported to law enforcement,” a statement from the city reads. “The fraudulent emails may pull information from application documents available online and may appear legitimate. This email includes information specific to the application and referenced current city of Pendleton employees by name; however it directs payment and questions to a fraudulent email address. The email includes an invoice charging additional fees and asks to be paid through wire transfer.”
The city of Pendleton does not accept wire transfer payments and does not request payments in that manner.
City officials advise anyone who receives such an email to not respond, send payment, or provide information to the sender. Instead, they should immediately be reported to law enforcement.
