Ecuador's Correa says assassination plot a scam

(Recast, adds details and background)

QUITO, June 12 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Thursday that four men arrested by police on suspicion they were plotting to kill him were probably scam artists trying to extort cash out of authorities.

Ecuador's Attorney General Washington Pezantes said earlier police were questioning three Colombians and one Ecuadorean, caught near the presidential palace in Quito, on suspicion they plotted to kill Correa. But officials provided no details about how the men planned to carry out the attack.

"It was a tip that we have been following for some time, but there is a strong probability they were just scam artists," said Correa in an interview with a local television station.

"We have dozens of cases like this every month."

But Correa, a former economy minister, said police were still investigating the case.

Fuzzy images taken by mobile phone of the arrested men being brought to a police station were shown by local television. Local media reported the men were found with photos of the presidential palace and maps of the nearby streets.

Correa said last year that unidentified groups tried to buy rockets to kill him. But the government provided no evidence and no one was arrested over the accusations.

His ally, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, has repeatedly warned of plots against his life organized by the United States and Colombia, a key Washington ally in the region.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Guillermo Granja; editing by Todd Eastham)