City of Middletown Police issued a warning Thursday afternoon of a phone scam affecting local residents.

A city resident received two separate calls, one with the caller ID number for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington D.C., and another with the Middletown Police caller ID, stating that there was a warrant out for her arrest and she needed to withdraw funds to pay her bail for the warrant to be dismissed, according to a Facebook press release from the department.

During the first call from the alleged scammer, who called under the guise of the DEA's phone number, the "intended victim grew suspicious" and told the caller they would check with the local police department to see if the warrant was real, the release stated. About 30 minutes later, the Middletown resident got a call from the local police department's caller ID stating they were a detective confirming the warrant's authenticity. Following a sense that something was off, "she then contacted the Middletown Police Department, and our personnel verified that there was no warrant of arrest," the release stated.

"This is clearly an elaborate scheme to try and defraud honest citizens of their money through fear and deception," the release stated. "While we are aggressively investigating this incident, we want to once again remind all residents and business owners that you must be suspicious when receiving telephone calls from unknown individuals demanding money."

In a reminder to local residents, the department wrote that payments for the dismissal of warrants, suspensions, or any other charges or fines, are to be made in-person, in a courtroom or police facility.