Pinal County officials announced on Apr. 14 that a scam has been targeting applicants involved in the planning and zoning process with Development Services.
The warning comes as several applicants reported receiving emails that appear to be from members of the Development Services Planning department, requesting payments for ‘Application Approval Fees.’ The emails use the Pinal County logo and specific application details, making them seem legitimate. However, all messages have come from the address [email protected], which is not an official county email.
Authorities said the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and Pinal County Attorney’s Office are investigating these incidents. A screenshot of one such email was provided by officials to help residents identify fraudulent communications. The county stated, “Pinal County Development Services never requests payment in this form. If you receive any such emails, please do not respond to the email or process any payments.” Residents who receive suspicious messages are urged to contact Angela Sanchez at [email protected] or call 520-866-6045 with questions or concerns.
This alert follows other challenges facing local residents. For example, according to the Arizona Department of Education, 76.3% of students in grades 3 through 8 failed the mathematics section of the AASA during the 2022-23 school year, while only 23% passed during the following year’s assessment. Similarly, state data shows that in high school, just 17% passed mathematics on the ACT for 2023-24.
English proficiency rates were also low; official figures show that nearly 70% of students in grades 3 through 8 did not pass English on last year’s AASA test and about three-fourths failed English on high school ACT exams according to the state education department.
County officials encourage anyone seeking information about previous warnings or news updates to view their archived news posts online.
