The town urged Wareham residents to avoid using a service called DOXO to pay online bills in an alert sent out Wednesday, March 17 at 6 p.m.

The notice — which was sent through the “ALERT Wareham” emergency system via phone calls, text messages and emails — emphasized that “DOXO is not not affiliated with the Town of Wareham for online bill payment.”

“All residents and taxpayers are hereby advised that the bill paying services provided by DOXO are not endorsed by the Town or Fire Districts, nor can the Town or Fire Districts accept any responsibility for transactions conducted through DOXO,” the alert message read. 

The DOXO website has links to town websites and lists contact information for the Town of Wareham, but the town’s alert was clear: “The Town has no contract or affiliation with this company.”

Treasurer John Foster said that the town first became aware of the site when a taxpayer called to make sure the town has received a payment she made. The town hadn’t, and officials were surprised to see the confirmation email she forwarded to them was from DOXO, a third-party biller.

While the company is a legitimate billpayer, Foster warned against using the site. 

“The problem is taxpayers believe that they are on the town website making online payments to the town. If you pay using the town website you receive same-day credit and confirmation that the town has received your payment,” Foster said. “When you pay via their website, they mail us a paper check and that may take a week to 10 days for the town to receive the check. They also charge fees for that service.”

The town does not charge fees for bills paid through checking and savings accounts. The vendor the town uses to process payments does charge a convenience fee for credit and debit transactions.

Foster said that to his knowledge, fewer than ten people made payments through the site. All of the people who used the DOXO service that spoke to the town said they thought they were on the town’s website.

On its website, the Wareham Fire District is also warning its customers against using DOXO. 

“Customers who attempt to pay their water bills through DOXO may be hit with excessive fees and the District has no control over when the payment will be received,” the website reads.

The Town of Wareham, the Onset Fire District and the Wareham Fire District each offer online bill-paying services through City Hall Systems and UniPay — both vendors that are approved by the town, according to the alert.

Residents should only use “official websites for online payments,” the town said. 

According to a statement from the DOXO website, the company is “unable to remove eligible providers” from their website. 

The official links to make payments are as follows:

• Town tax bill payments — https://www.wareham.ma.us/treasurercollector/pages/online-tax-bill-payment-links

• Onset Fire District and Water Department online payments — https://unipaygold.unibank.com/customerinfo.aspx

• Wareham Fire District online payments — https://unipaygold.unibank.com/customerinfo.aspx

This is not the first time towns have warned residents against using DOXO to pay bills.

In 2018, Houston city officials described DOXO as a “suspicious website.” A spokesperson for Houston Public Works said the department never received the bill payment from one resident who used the website. In 2019, Fairfax Water in Virginia urged residents not to use DOXO to pay water bills because DOXO is a third-party website that could charge additional fees or result in delayed payments.

Residents can sign up to receive notices through “ALERT Wareham” here: https://www.smart911.com/smart911/registration/registrationLanding.action?cdnExternalPath=