(KNZA)--It's the scam that just won't go away, and it continues to cause alarm to Brown County residents who answer their phone only to hear a message from the IRS demanding payment and making threats.  

No payment is necessary as it's not the IRS, but scammers seeking easy money, who are making the calls. Brown County Sheriff John Merchant says the scam continues to plague the local area, with his office receiving nearly a dozen related reports on Wednesday morning alone. “We've had over eleven calls, and text messages, emails and everything else from people getting messages from people alluding the fact that they are IRS representatives, and if they don't send X number amount of dollars right away, they will issue warrants or people will lose their jobs or something if they're not complying with the IRS. It is a scam that's been around now for well over a year or two. If the IRS wants to contact you, they will contact you probably by mail, not by phone.”  

Merchant encourages those who receive the calls to send the scammer his way. “If you get a call like this, a lot of them are computer generated messages, just hang up on them.  A lot of times, people have been followed up by a person calling. If you do get that, just tell them to call the Sheriff's Office or Law Enforcement Office, and then hang up on them.”

The IRS has responded to the growing number of scam calls, with the agency saying their agents will never demand immediate payment, or ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone, demand that taxes be paid without allowing time to question or appeal the amount they say you owe, or require the use of a specific payment method for taxes.