HIAWATHA, Kan. (AP) — A new kind of telephone scam is hitting northeast Kansas, this one perpetrated by people pretending to be federal agents.

Brown County Sheriff John Merchant tells KNZA-FM that a caller with a heavy foreign accent leaves messages on home answering machines claiming the recipient is a suspect in a federal investigation.

The caller says the recipient must return the call or face legal consequences. But the sheriff says the return call will result in hefty telephone charges that the scammer will pocket.

A second scam involves calls to cellphones saying a federal warrant has been issued for the recipient. The caller says the recipient must make a payment through personal financial information to avoid being arrested at work.

Merchant says anyone receiving such calls should notify law enforcement.