Tax Scammers Posing As OCSO Deputies

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office received ten reports in one day about scammers trying to steal money from taxpayers.

“They’re actually using the name of one of our current deputies,” said Mark Opgrande, Public Information Officer with OCSO.

He said scammers are threatening people that they will be arrested if they don’t pay taxes. They then proceed to ask for a payment with gift cards.

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Often times, Opgrande says the scammers are convincing because they have a lot of information about the individual, and possibly know how much they owe in taxes.

“A lot of these people start to think maybe I did,” he said.

He wants people to know the IRS and the Sheriff’s Department will never ask people for payments in pre-paid gift cards. Opgrande put together a pamphlet of warnings for people.

In the future, he is hoping to work with area stores to train cashiers to be aware of possible scammer situations.

For now, he is relying on word-of-mouth to stop people from falling prey.

Opgrande is asking people to contact their local law enforcement agency if they feel targeted by a scammer.