City of La Crosse Warns Against Latest Scam

Published on September 30, 2026

LA CROSSE, WI — The City of La Crosse advises residents and business owners to remain vigilant against fraud and scams. In a recent scheme, scam artists are posing as the City’s Planning and Development Department using email addresses, including but not limited to, tranea.cityoflacrosse@usa.com and planningcityoflacrosse@usa.com.

This type of scam is common and has been observed in many other municipalities across the state. The community is reminded that all official City correspondence will be sent from emails ending in the domain name, “cityoflacrosse.org.”

The City is taking steps to protect the La Crosse community by informing applicants about scams, reducing the visibility of applicants’ information, and adding awareness notices to official communications. 

 The City of La Crosse will never:

• Ask you to request invoice settlement instructions.
• Direct you to wire transfer money under any circumstances.
• Request additional fees not directly outlined in an application or agreement.
• Direct you to only respond via email. You are welcome to contact our staff by phone, email, or schedule an appointment to meet in person.

If you receive a similar email:

• Review sender addresses carefully: Official City emails end in @cityoflacrosse.org
• Do not reply, click links, or send payment.
• Do not share personal or financial information.
• Delete immediately.

If you are concerned that you may be the victim of a scam, please contact the La Crosse Police Department at (608) 782-7575.