Topeka ? The Kansas Department of Agriculture says businesses should be wary of people claiming to be state inspectors who ask to be paid licensing fees.

The agency says its inspectors never collect money from businesses during food safety or lodging inspections.

The Hutchinson News reports that the agency got a report of a person in southeast Kansas impersonating a KDA employee. The fake inspector got one business to pay to renew its license and asked several other businesses for cash to perform a food safety inspection.

The department is asking businesses to report anyone claiming to be an inspector who asks for money.