HAVERHILL — Robert Burke recognized the scam right away.

As soon as the recorded voice on the phone made reference to his credit card and started asking questions, he hung up. He immediately called his 82-year-old mother to warn her in case she receives the same call.

"I get angry,'' Burke said of scam phone calls like the one he received this week. "I'm really concerned about the elderly who don't know what this is about. The next thing you know, they could lose their savings."

Burke reported the call to police, who are warning residents in Haverhill and elsewhere to hang up if they receive the call. It is the latest in a series of phone scams to hit the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire this year.

Donald Thompson, deputy police chief for Haverhill, said local departments have been advised of two other scams that are happening on a national level. They both involve e-mails. Thompson said one offers to sell rare items from the life of pop icon Michael Jackson, who died last week. The other comes from people masquerading as an Islamic terrorist group that threatens to hurt the e-mail recipient or his family unless the recipient pays the group $800, he said. The FBI is investigating, he said.

Phone scams like the one reported in Haverhill this week typically feature a recorded voice that tells the person answering the phone that their credit card or bank account had been compromised, and to protect it the account holder must give certain information over the phone. That information could include an account number, PIN number or password, or Social Security number.

In January, dozens of people in Haverhill and neighboring communities received phone calls alerting them to supposed problems with their accounts at Haverhill Bank. Police in Haverhill and surrounding communities said dozens of bank customers reported the calls. Bank officials said the scam artists were trying to get account numbers and other information so they could access the accounts. The officials said they were able to protect the accounts after the calls were reported to them.

Burke, who lives on Crowell Street in Haverhill, said he has received several scam phone calls in the past.

"I'm very much aware of how these scams work," he said.

Thompson said while local police departments encourage residents to report phone scams to them, there is usually little the departments can do, except report the incidents to federal authorities and get the word out to the public.

"There's not much we can do on the local level but to notify the federal authorities," Thompson said. "The calls are usually run by groups overseas. At least we can warn people."

He repeated the warning that local police have made to residents when earlier scams hit the area.

"People do need to be careful about giving personal information to anyone they don't know and don't trust," he said. "A lot of these scams prey upon the elderly. They'll send these things out randomly to 2,000 people. Twenty people might respond. That's what they (the scammers) are counting on."

North Andover police Inspector Daniel Cronin said the department hasn't received any phone scam complaints recently, but has had several complaints in the past.

"We did get hit with a rash of these calls looking for that type of information and banking information," Cronin said of the scam earlier in the year.

He cautioned residents that banks would not contact them in such a direct manner to tell them there is a problem with their accounts or that their account had been compromised.

"We suggest residents take down as much information as possible without providing any and contact the police," he said. "We'll be able to verify whether it was a legitimate call."

Methuen police Capt. Thomas Fram said residents should not give out any information over the phone.

"If people do receive such calls we would urge them to contact us, and not to give out information over the telephone," he said.

In Salem, N.H., police Capt. Shawn Patten said residents who receive live or robo-calls should not provide any information over the phone and should try to write down the number from their caller ID screen and report the number to police.

"A lot of times it won't matter," Patten said. "They are calling from prepaid cell phones which are untraceable."

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