April 6, 2022 10:00 a.m. 

City of Roseburg officials are urging residents and business owners to beware of a phishing email scam, which came out Tuesday and was purportedly from the City.

The emails threaten “service suspension” within 24 hours and claim to be a “City of Roseburg Business Notice” sent by the “City of Roseburg Business Office” but the email address shows up as “Steve Slesarik using the email address steve@foreverafter.com.

The email reads, “A secure message has been sent to you by the City of Roseburg Business Report Office. To view this message, please click on the ‘View Message’ button below. You have 24 hours to complete these steps to avoid service suspension”. The subject is listed as “Service Suspension Notice”.

The release said residents should ignore and delete the emails. IT staff said residents should not get click on the “View Message” button. The “sender” of the message likely got hacked. A number of people contacted the City on Tuesday to ask about the emails.

The release said the City of Roseburg doesn’t even have a “Business Report Office”. If a resident becomes delinquent with utility payments, The City sends out a paper late notice. If the issue isn’t addressed, a paper notice is hung on the property’s door on a Thursday, explaining that shutoff could occur the following Wednesday if no action is taken by the resident. Finance Director Ron Harker said the City never sends emails that threaten an immediate shutoff in service.

Any emails that come from the City have an address ending in: cityofroseburg.org according to staff.