REDMOND, OR -- Two months after scammers received the W-2 information for more than a thousand Redmond School District employees, the Superintendent says issues are still being worked out. "It’ll never go completely away," says Mike McIntosh. "But, I have to say right now it’s died down. Tax season is over and we believe that was the purpose of this scam in the first place, was to get ahold of information that would allow folks to tap into the IRS."

Superintendent McIntosh tells KBND News, "People are still getting letters; not very many as there were, initially. I don’t know what the total number is; maybe less than 50 have told us that they’ve received letters. There are five or six different versions. One asks them to report to the local field office, which is here in Bend, with their tax return and ID, just to confirm your identity and say ‘yep, you’re the one who filed.’ Others say call the IRS." He says the letters are legitimately from the IRS and are a sign that precautionary measures are working. After an employee at the district office inadvertently e-mailed the tax data to a scammer, the district contacted the IRS and had everyone’s information flagged, in case there was suspicious activity. The district has paid for credit monitoring for each impacted employee and is working with a lawyer who specializes in online scams.

He says to his knowledge, no one has lost money, as a result of the scheme. "The worst case, that we know of, is that somebody had filed a tax return before you actually did. But, those are flagged. I don’t think anybody, to my knowledge, has lost money. Time, headache and heartache? Yeah; we’ve lost a little of that."

To hear our full conversation with Mike McIntosh, visit our Podcast Page or click HERE.