PALESTINE, Texas (May 4, 2017)  – The Palestine Police Department would like to alert citizens of issues that have arisen with a service that is attempting to collect payment from the citizens on behalf of the City of Palestine.

The City of Palestine has discovered that an online bill pay service, identified as doxo.com, has a link established to collect payments for water services rendered by the city. This service is not authorized to take payments on behalf of the City of Palestine and any payment sent through this service is not forwarded to the city in a timely manner.

Utilizing this service may dramatically decrease the speed of a payment, causing the payment to be received by the city long after the due date. This may result in a disconnect of services, creating inconvenience to the water customer. The service also charges a premium service fee to the customer for using the system.

The City of Palestine would like to communicate to our citizens that we are aware of this issue and are working diligently to correct the problem. The City is actively working to disseminate this information and collaborating with the Palestine Police Department, as a step to guard our citizens so they can continue to have confidence in the stewardship of their payments.

The City of Palestine does have an online bill pay service hosted through the city website at cityofpalestinetx.com. This is the only legitimate online payment service that is used by the city. This service is accessed by visiting the City of Palestine homepage and browsing the Online Services menu.

The Palestine Police Department is currently looking into this matter, as it will be thoroughly investigated to ascertain if any criminal activity has occurred. The Police urge citizens to notify the Police Department, as well as the City of Palestine Customer Service Department. if they have accessed and used this online payment system to tender payment for city services.

Alert sent on 05/04/2017 at 6:05PM EDT

Screenshot of Doxo Page

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Alert delivered to the following groups: Palestine Police Department, Business Alerts, Press Releases, Palestine PD Administration, Palestine PD SWAT, Patrol - A Shift, Patrol - B Shift, Patrol - C Shift, Patrol - D Shift, Palestine PD Patrol Division, Palestine PD CID, Palestine PD Bicycle Patrol Unit, Palestine PD School Resource Officer, Palestine PD Narcotics Unit, Palestine PD Dispatchers, Palestine PD Support Services Staff, Palestine PD Community Relations Liaison, Banking Group ADMIN, Hotel/Motel Group ADMIN, Retail Businesses ADMIN, Pawn Shops ADMIN, Gold Buyers ADMIN, Palestine PD Citizens on Patrol, Recyclers ADMIN, Convenience Stores ADMIN, Westwood ISD ADMIN, Palestine ISD ADMIN, City of Palestine Mayor & City Council, City of Palestine Emergency Management, City of Palestine Fire Department ADMIN, Car Dealers ADMIN, Wrecker Companies ADMIN, Paint & Body Shops ADMIN, PPD District 1A, PPD District 1B, PPD District 1C, PPD District 2A, PPD District 2B, PPD District 3A, PPD District 3B, PPD District 3C, and tip411 test

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