SACO — “Congratulations, you’ve won the lottery,” a friendly voice intones on the telephone.

Caller identification reveals the call has an 876 area code ”“ which means it originates in Jamaica.

Advice? Don’t listen. Hang up before you can be swept up into an elaborate fraud designed to part you from your money.

Think it can’t happen to you?

Think again, York County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Bill King told residents at Lord Pepperell Apartments Wednesday.

It happens all the time. Local people are scammed out of their life savings by telemarketers holed up in Jamaica calling folks ”“ usually the elderly ”“ dozens of times a day, pressuring them to send money to process their lottery “winnings,” which never materialize. Eventually, victims may realize something might not be quite right, but continue sending money in the hope that they won’t lose the money they’ve already sent.

The callers befriend their victims, tell them they care about them ”“ and that their own relatives don’t ”“ promise to show up with a new car and a big check, and sometimes even go as far as to change their victim’s telephone number, to isolate them from family members, King said.

An Arundel woman, Beatrice Boucher, who told her story last year in an effort to warn others, lost about $80,000 to scammers; a Cape Elizabeth woman lost $150,000.

The Arundel case, which includes multiple jurisdictions in the United States and in Jamaica, has been referred to a federal task force under the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Consumer Litigation.

FairPoint Communications, which has played a pivotal role in helping York County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies investigate the fraudulent activity, has identified about 200 people in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont who have been bilked out of thousands of dollars.

One elderly man, who lives in the Midcoast and who had been educated at Yale, lost everything ”“ including his home. An Ossipee, N.H. man lost thousands, King said.

The fraud schemes have drawn the attention of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, who said her committee intends to hold a bipartisan hearing to investigate scams targeting senior citizens. Collins, in a prepared statement, said she is especially concerned about the Jamaican phone scam targeting Maine’s seniors. Earlier this month, Collins joined law enforcement officials, representatives from FairPoint Communications and victims’ families at a news conference in Bangor to draw attention to the scam.

“Our parents and grandparents worked hard their entire lives and saved for retirement,” said Collins. “They should be enjoying their ”˜golden years,’ and they should not be being targeted by criminals who want to rob them of their hard-earned savings and investments.

“Our committee intends to take a close look at several scams that are targeting elderly people, not only to raise awareness, but also to discuss ways we can help people avoid becoming a victim.”

Jackie Beaudoin, who attended Wednesday’s talk in Saco, said at first, she wondered how anyone could be so gullible as to fall for the scams, but after King explained how the callers involve themselves in their victims’ lives, she now understands.

Bonnie Pothier, U.S. Sen. Angus King’s regional representative, told the group she’d had calls herself from those who she believes were scammers. Pothier formerly worked in the banking industry and added her voice to King’s warnings. Frauds and scams are rampant, she said.

“This happens all the time,” said Pothier.

Bill King said the scams are also drawing the attention of the Jamaican government. King traveled to Jamaica last year with FairPoint Communications to talk with government officials about the problem and said he met with Peter Bunting, the country’s national security minister.

“He’s committed to stamping out the scams,” King said.

From a county sheriff’s office in Maine, word about the scams and efforts to root out those responsible is gaining national attention. The program “Dan Rather Reports,” which airs online at www.axs.tv, has sent reporters to talk to King about the scams.

On Wednesday, Lisa McWilliams, of the television network Global Reporters for The Caribbean, sat in on King’s presentation at the apartment building and planned to interview him later in the day for a program set to launch at the end of March.

King calls the scammers ruthless, and dispensed some advice: “If you get the calls, say no and hang up,” he said, and then let a family member know, call police and call your phone company to report the call.

Those with computers can also log on to www.bewareof876.com for more information.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, Ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.