Kern Permit Applicants Warned About Fake Wire-Transfer Invoices—Here Is How to Check a Demand

The county says the payment requests are phishing

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Kern County Planning and Natural Resources is warning people who submitted permit applications through its Accela Citizen Access portal about emails demanding payment by wire transfer. The department says recipients should not pay and is actively monitoring the situation.

The county identified three known subject lines: “Invoice for Application Review and Approval Fee – Immediate Action Required,” “Outstanding Processing Fee Required Prior to Final Approval,” and “Application Review & Approval Fee.” Those phrases imitate the language of a genuine permitting process, which is precisely why the alert deserves more attention than a generic warning about suspicious spelling.

The notice does not say that every Accela account was compromised, identify how senders obtained any applicant details or establish a dollar loss. It confirms a targeted impersonation risk and gives affected customers a verification route. Reporting a breach, theft total or culprit without additional evidence would go beyond the county’s statement.

Use two channels before moving any money

A permit applicant who receives one of the messages should stop before clicking, replying or calling a number inside the email. Open Kern Planning’s website independently, use the department’s published Accela link and compare the account balance and application status there. Then call the department at 661-862-8615 or write to planning@kerncounty.com using contact information from the official site—not from the payment demand.

That two-channel check matters because a convincing scam can copy a project name, application number, employee signature or logo. None of those elements proves that the sender controls a county account. Wire transfers are a special danger because they are designed to move quickly and may be difficult to reverse once the receiving institution releases the funds.

The county’s alert says not to click links, download attachments, respond or provide personal information. It also recommends changing the Accela password, deleting the message and blocking the sender. A password used on another service should be changed there too; reusing credentials allows one exposed password to unlock more than one account.

If someone already clicked or paid

Someone who opened an attachment should run the organization’s approved security scan and tell an employer or IT administrator rather than quietly deleting the file. The practical goal is to contain both financial loss and credential theft; a failed payment does not rule out malware or a stolen password.

• Disconnect from the message and preserve a copy or screenshot, including the sender address, subject line, payment instructions and time received.
• Contact the bank or wire-transfer provider immediately and request a recall or fraud hold. Speed matters, but recovery is not guaranteed.
• Change the Accela password from the official portal and change any reused password on other accounts. Enable multifactor authentication wherever it is available.
• Report the message to Kern Planning and to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. A business whose email or payment system may be involved should also alert its security team.

What applicants should save for the real process

Keep the official application confirmation, portal URL, assigned project number, fee receipts and the name of the county division handling the file in one place. When a new demand arrives, compare it with that record. Ask the department to confirm the fee amount, payment method and deadline in the portal before authorizing payment.

The accompanying image is an authentic CC0 photograph of Bakersfield City Hall. It establishes local-government context but does not show the Kern County Planning office, an Accela screen, the phishing email or any person involved. The warning itself comes from the county department’s published notice.