FairPoint is named finalist in national corporate social responsibility competition

FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NasdaqCM:FRP), a leading telecommunications provider in northern New England, has been named a finalist in a national corporate social responsibility competition for its efforts to stop lottery scams targeted at the elderly ‘ especially in northern New England.
Ragan’ s PR Daily chose FairPoint as a finalist in the Best Corporate-Community Partnership category.
FairPoint began its campaign, Beware: Scams from Area Code 876, last year, working with local law enforcement officials, AARP, state attorney generals and federal lawmakers to unmask the growing problem of scamming Americans out of millions every year.
‘ Hearing that our elderly customers were being preyed upon and bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars was too painful not to do something,’ said Mike Smith, Vermont state president for FairPoint. ‘ We knew we must act to draw attention to this outrageous crime against unwitting Americans.’
Each day 30,000 calls are made from the Jamaican 876 area code attempting to defraud US citizens. Conservative estimates put the yearly take from Jamaican scams at $300 million. These figures are staggering, and likely just the tip of the iceberg according to AARP. Up to 75 percent of victims never report their victimization due to embarrassment and fear their children will negatively intervene.
FairPoint turned to Montagne Communications, its long‐time strategic communications partner to help raise awareness about this scam. Together, they created a website, bewareof876.com, held news conferences across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and lobbied lawmakers to hold Congressional hearings and consider new federal legislation.
FairPoint also participated in several international symposia hosted by the Jamaican business organizations to examine the illicit scams and to foster greater cooperation between the two governments to bring an end to the crime.
FairPoint’ s efforts in the Beware of 876 campaign have resulted in Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., sponsoring legislation to create a new fraud unit at the Federal Trade Commission. On March 13, the Senate Committee on Aging, at the request of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will hold hearings on fraudulent scams targeting senior citizens. Representatives of FairPoint, law enforcement and victims plan to testify.
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (February 12, 2013) ‘ FairPoint Communications, Inc