The telephone rings and the bad guys are inside your home. They didn’t sneak through a window or break down the front door, but they’re inside, and they want to talk to you.

Why is it we Mainers always have to run to answer the phone when it rings? We have been conditioned like Pavlov’s dog to answer the phone when it rings.

Dishonest telemarketers know the power of the telephone and misuse it to fleece citizens of hard-earned financial resources.

Eighty percent of these calls are to senior citizens. If a victim is successfully scammed once, his name and number may end up on a “mooch list” for repeated scamming. The product or services that become the “bait” to draw the victim in run the gamut from sweepstakes winnings and phony prizes to fake investments and charities. Seniors have lost their life’s savings to these “phone phonies.”

Here are a few tools that might be useful to thwart the callers.

. Call law enforcement, the state Attorney General’s Office, or Northeast CONTACT to report suspected telemarketing schemes

. Ask the caller to send you written materials before making a decision.

. Check with chambers of commerce or the attorney general’s office in the state where the business is calling from to see if there have been complaints.

. Check with family or friends before parting with your nest egg.

. Ask to be removed from telemarketing lists. Remember that bad guys aren’t very good at following the laws and rules and may re-call you anyway. This practice is illegal, but, unfortunately far from rare. Sign up for the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registry, which is located online and easy to activate.

Telemarketing tricksters seek to use fear, greed, loneliness, flattery or embarrassment to get what they want. They pressure you to be quick about your decision.

Some terrific online resources exist for more information: AARP (www.aarp.org/money/wise/consumer/scams) has a good Web site about identity theft and telemarketing crimes as well as resources for consumers.

You can order a free copy of the book “Weapons of Fraud,” which includes a CD with recordings of telemarketing charlatans making spiels to the unwary.

Also available is the book “Crimes of Passion: How Con Artists Will Steal Your Savings and Inheritance Through Telemarketing Fraud, Investment Schemes and Consumer Scams” by Les Henderson. This book is available at the Bangor Public Library.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership costs $25; business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.