Public warned of fake Lorain County Auditor website with '.org' in web address

ELYRIA — Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass and his staff are asking county residents to be wary of a fake or "spoofed" website purporting to belong to his office. The real Lorain County Auditor's Office website is loraincountyauditor.gov. The fake one is "www.loraincountyauditors.org." The ".org" site is a scam or a "spoof" of the legitimate site and should not be trusted, Snodgrass and his deputies said Wednesday. They encouraged residents to avoid it and make sure they only visit the real site. Assistant Chief Deputy Auditor Marty Rowe said the fake website appears to have been created using artificial intelligence, or AI. The fake site has legitimate contact information for the auditor's office, but a closer inspection reveals errors: Incorrect official logos, obvious AI-created images, uncommon spellings of common words and links to sites not controlled by the county auditor. Much more apparent are two messages found on the spoofed website Wednesday: "We Only provide information about the Lorain County Auditor in clear, simple language, and making it easy for you to understand every detail. This website not offered any paid service. For any official services, please contact the Lorain County Auditor directly or visit the official government website," it read, with a link to the legitimate auditor's website. A notice at the bottom of the fake website also reads: "This site is only informational site, NOT OFFICIAL SITE." Anyone who bought anything on or paid any money through "www.loraincountyauditors.org" should file a police report, Chief Deputy Auditor Paul Nishanian said. Snodgrass said government agencies and their websites have increasingly become targets for scammers. His office was targeted in a mysterious "cyber incident" in May 2025. The county Recorder's Office was affected by a cyberattack on one of its vendors in 2022 and by malware in 2019.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.