(KNZA)--An oft-warned of scam simply won't go away, with callers falsely claiming to represent the IRS increasing their aggressive attempts to scam local residents of their hard earned money. “Very aggressive, and I know they're targeting a lot of folks that are older. It worries them a great deal and that bothers me a lot.”

That's Brown County Sheriff John Merchant, who says on Friday alone, his office received eight separate reports of the scam. “[They're] getting contacted by people who are alleging to be the IRS, stating that these people owe them money [and] if they don't get the money transferred to them within a half-an-hour to an hour, they would have authorities show up at their door and arrest them,” Merchant tells MSC News. “It's scaring quite a few people. It's scaring quite a few people. That's not the way the IRS would do business.”  

Merchant is encouraging anyone who receives such a phone call to tell the caller no money will be wired until the scammer personally notifies local authorities of their intent. “We're suggesting that if they get further calls that they give the number of the local law enforcement agency and tell the folks on the other end to notify law enforcement and maybe that would be a deterrent so they wouldn't call these people back once they know law enforcement's in the loop.” 

Although it's regularly encouraged to hang up on scam callers, Merchant says that's not working in this case. Instead, the targeted would-be victim continues to receive the calls, with one resident reporting that eleven messages had been left on personal voice mail in a short period of time.