November 14, 2012

FairPoint attends Jamaican lottery scam forum

The Associated Press

PORTLAND — FairPoint Communications is reminding customers about a phone scam out of Jamaica following a forum in the Caribbean country that addressed the problem.

FairPoint's Vermont president, Mike Smith, and Maj. Bill King of the York County Sheriff's Department traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, last week for the Forum on the Lottery Scam, an event attended by financial institutions, money transfer companies, diplomats and law enforcement agencies.

FairPoint, the largest landline telephone company in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, says elderly residents across the region have been cheated out of more than $1 million by con artists telling them they've won a lottery or a car but need to make payments to cash in.

FairPoint this year launched a website, www.bewareof876.com , offering tips on how to avoid becoming a victim.

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