The local police aren’t calling Tri-City residents from Tucson. Police warn of scams

The police aren’t calling people in the Tri-Cities from Arizona, and Social Security isn’t making a long distance call from upstate New York.

Richland police and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office each warned about out-of-state calls where crooks are trying to scam people out of their money.

One of those calls made it’s way to a Benton County deputy prosecutor. The scammer, calling from 520-462-8697, left a message saying the prosecutor had been charged with a crime, and threatened that the prosecutor would be arrested.

The 520 area code is from Tucson, Ariz.

“If anyone would know they have a warrant for their arrest, it would be the prosecutor or even law enforcement. These scams are randomly dialed in hopes of getting a response,” the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook call.

Richland police heard from a concerned person who received a call from 518-706-3012. That scam artist claimed to be from Social Security and said they would be stopping the person’s checks, the department said on it’s Facebook page.

Officers confirmed it was a scam by dialing the upstate New York number.

Both agencies reminded people to not share information with callers who threaten to lock them up or cut off their money. If you have any doubts, hang up, find the local number of the agency that is supposed to be calling you, and call them back.