CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Water & Sewer department is asking customers to make payments through its secure website, https://egov.co.okaloosa.fl.us/Click2GovCX/index.html.
"A company called DOXO … has placed our publicly available website information on their site for the purpose of … receiving customer payments through their site," an Okaloosa Water and Sewer news release states.
An Okaloosa Water & Sewer spokesperson initially called the service "fraudulent," noting that the Seattle-based company did not request the county's permission to be a third-party bill payer.
It didn't have to, according to a spokesperson for the service. The company allows members to pay all their bills through one website using a bill payment network accessible to thousands of other websites. Transaction fees may apply, but a streamlined site design adds convenience for mobile users.
A total of 150 Doxo members have listed Okaloosa County Water and Sewer as one of their elections for bill payments, according to the company's spokesperson, who said the company has processed 20 Okaloosa Water and Sewer bill payments in the past month.
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Editor's Note: A previous version of this article referred to Doxo as, in the Okaloosa County spokesperson's words, collecting customers' payments through "fraudulent" means. The county initially alerted media to what it called a "scam." However, that doesn't seem to be the case, the News Bulletin has learned.
Here's more information on the company, as it appears in an Entrepreneur magazine report.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa Water & Sewer warns customers of web payment scam