DENVER -- Authorities in Arapahoe County are warning about a phone call you may receive from a so-called sex offender notification service. It may be a scam, they said.

Three Centennial residents told deputies that they received a recorded phone message Thursday afternoon from a nonprofit organization identified as Sex Offender Notification Service, a business in Missouri.

The message indicated that a dangerous sex offender was living in their neighborhood. They were instructed to call a toll-free number with the "offender code" that was given to them, and pay a $10 fee in order to receive the details about the sex offender's name, address, description, and criminal offense.

An Arapahoe County sheriff's investigator called the number, provided the "offender code" and learned that the information in the message wasn't true.

"We did get information on an individual. The individual is not a registered sex offender. In fact, the individual passed away in mid-December of 2004," said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.

Investigators believe the information the company uses is inaccurate and reminded residents that information on registered sex offenders is available to them at their local sheriff's office or police department. A list of the most violent sex offenders in the state is also listed on the Colorado Bureau of Information Web site.