The Clinton County Sheriff’s Department and other local and area authorities are continuing to warn residents about different types of phone scams that have been reported in the region in the past several weeks.

Perhaps the most frequently reported scam involves people claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has prompted that agency to offer taxpayers tips to protect themselves from scam artists who call pretending to be with the IRS.

These callers may demand money or may say you have a refund due and try to trick you into sharing private information. These con artists sound convincing when they call. They may know a lot about you, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is actually calling. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. If you don’t answer, they often leave an “urgent” call back request.

“These telephone scams are being seen in every part of the country, and we urge people not to be deceived by these threatening phone calls,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “We have formal processes in place for people with tax issues. The IRS respects taxpayer rights, and these angry shake-down calls are not how we do business.”

The IRS reminds people that they can know pretty easily when a supposed IRS caller is a fake. Here are five things the scammers often do but the IRS will not do. Any one of these five things is a tell-tale sign of a scam. The IRS will never:

* Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.

* Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe.

* Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a pre-paid debit card.

* Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.

* Threaten to bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.

If you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do:

If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The IRS workers can help you with a payment issue.

If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1-800-366-4484 or at www.tigta.gov.

You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Imposter Scams.” If the complaint involves someone impersonating the IRS, include the words “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.

Remember, too, the IRS does not use unsolicited email, text messages or any social media to discuss your personal tax issue. For more information on reporting tax scams, to www.irs.gov and type “scam” in the search box.

Additional information about tax scams are available on IRS social media sites, including YouTube and Tumblr where people can search “scam” to find all the scam-related posts.

Another recent local report of a scam phone call reported to the sheriff’s department involved someone impersonating a representative of South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation.

In that case, the caller told the resident they were behind by several hundred dollars on their electric bill.

The sheriff’s office confirmed with South Kentucky RECC that the electric company did not make phone calls to tell customers about late fees, but did so by mail only.

In many cases, fake scam artists may sound or speak with a “foreign” accent and calls may actually be coming from far away countries from con artists trying to bilk people out of money or personal information such as bank account numbers, credit or debit card numbers or other personal information which could lead to identity theft.

These prank, scam and annoying calls, many of which go unreported to authorities, also can come any time of day or night and even on weekends.

Officials in the local sheriff’s office confirmed on Monday that only a couple of calls a week on average have been reported this year and also confirmed that scams are varied in nature, the most prevalent over the past several weeks have dealt with scammers impersonating the Internal Revenue Service.

The officials urge residents who receive such calls to use common sense measures, by not giving any”type personal information–especially financial, such as bank account or credit and debit card numbers, Social Security numbers or any other specific information. Never send money to any person or company unless verifying they are 100 percent legitimate.

Also, try and confirm the call by asking the caller their names, and request a number you can call them back on, their supervisor’s name, etc. Any legitimate caller would provide that type of information.

Although most numbers used by scammers are phony and unavailable for call back, making them nearly impossible to trace, persons receiving such calls can still report the incident by calling the sheriff’s office at 387-5111.