TULSA COUNTY, Okla. — The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about scammers impersonating police officers and asking for money to pay off a fake federal arrest warrant.

“I don’t know of any law enforcement officer that’s taken a screenshot of a warrant and said, ‘We’re coming to get you.’ Let’s be clear, if you have a warrant and we need to come pick you up, we’re not calling you. We’re just coming to pick you up,” said Casey Roebuck with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

Roebuck said in this particular scam when a victim answers the phone, someone pretending to be a Tulsa County detective says they’ve failed to appear for a federal grand jury summon and they now have a warrant out for their arrest.

“The fact that they’re actually sending the potential victims a picture with a warrant with her name on it and taking the time to falsify a document—a federal document for a warrant—that’s the first time we’ve seen that.”

Roebuck said these fake warrants look authentic. There’s no real difference.

The fake detectives then demand cash through cards, apps, and cryptocurrency to pay the bond.

To make things seem more realistic, these scammers use a spoofing app to make it look like the Tulsa Police Department is calling, but TPD and TCSO don’t enforce federal arrest warrants.

“A deputy or law enforcement officer will never call and ask for money over the phone, that’s red flag number one. Red flag number two, you’re not writing checks to the court clerk. They’re asking you to buy cards from the court clerk. They’re asking you to buy cash cards, to use Cash App or Bitcoin and that is simply not how we do business.”

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said if you do send money to these scammers, it’s nearly impossible to get that money back so it’s important to make sure things are legitimate before handing over any money.

If you happen to get one of these calls, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office says to hang up and block the number.

If you get scammed, call the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office at 918-596-5601 and report it immediately.