With tax time upon us, local authorities say local residents will be inundated with scam attempts.

Clinton Police Chief Ben Lowers says digital attempts at scamming the public have become as common, if not more so, than phone scams. With that in mind, he implores the public to be very skeptical of any electronic communications demanding personal information.

With the explosion of Facebook marketplace in the last few years, Chief Lowers says they encounter somewhat frequently individuals who made a transaction through Facebook, and the product either did not exist or was not what it was advertised to be.

Chief Lowers encourages using cash to purchase things on sites like Facebook Marketplace and others. He says that's one of the best ways to keep yourself from being scammed.

Online scams have not only taken over Facebook advertisements but also email and text messages are no longer immune to scam attempts. Chief Lowers says we need to be very vigilant in the links we click on when online.