County warns of email scam

Published on July 28, 2025

Los Alamos County officials are warning residents and vendors to be on alert after discovering a sophisticated phishing scam involving fraudulent emails that appeared to be from Los Alamos County.

A contractor working with the County recently received one such email, which falsely claimed an overdue balance and included instructions to submit payment via wire transfer. Although the message appeared legitimate, referencing real details about the contractor’s relationship with the County, it was determined to be fraudulent.

Officials emphasize that Los Alamos County will never request payment over the phone, by text message, via wire transfer, or through personal email accounts. All official communications are sent by U.S. mail or from an official county email address which can be verified with the appropriate county department. Recipients of suspicious messages requesting money, personal information or immediate action should not respond or click on any links.

Before taking any action on a suspicious email, recipients should confirm the authenticity of a message by contacting the County. Residents can call Alex Lerma or Zhen Liu with the County’s Finance Division at 505-662-8060 and vendors can call Annalisa Miranda or Derrill Rodgers at (505) 662-8190 at the County’s Procurement Division.

Suspicious emails should be reported to the Los Alamos Police Department at 505-662-8222 or to the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/. Los Alamos County officials thank the community for their cooperation.