HomeNewsJamaica Prepares to Strike Anew at Lottery Scammers
NEWS

Jamaica Prepares to Strike Anew at Lottery Scammers

CARIBBEAN / 13 MAY 2022 BY SCOTT MISTLER-FERGUSON EN

Jamaica's government has signaled plans to incorporate some new tricks to raise the cost of engaging in lottery scamming, having thus far struggled to curb one of the island's top criminal economies.

In the coming weeks, Jamaican law enforcement officials hope added threats of asset seizure and extradition to the US will be enough to turn the tide in what has been a decades-long struggle against such schemes.

Lottery scamming, also known as advance-fee fraud, is an enormous illegal enterprise in Jamaica, having long contributed to the country's horrific levels of violence and extracting an estimated $300 million from victims each year.

Scammers target vulnerable people, typically elderly individuals in the US, and phone them claiming they've won a lottery prize, according to the Jamaica Gleaner. To access their winnings, the victims are told they must pay a "processing fee" by wiring funds to the scammers.

Most famously, in 2014, William Webster, former director of the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), was targeted by one such scam and told to pay $50,000 in order to get a car and millions of dollars. The FBI used this to make a warning video targeted at older Americans.

SEE ALSO: Deciphering the Lottery Scam Rings Fueling Violence in Jamaica

In response, the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) plans to target the ill-gotten rewards of scammers more aggressively. "We are going after their assets," the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Clifford Chambers, told reporters.

Last year, at the behest of the US State Department, Jamaica pushed through an amendment to its extradition law, relaxing some of the requirements for firsthand evidence in extradition hearings. US officials expressed optimism to local media that a higher volume of extraditions can now be expected, fortifying another tool against scammer rings. Two such extraditions were already approved in March and April with one defendant, Romario Murrray, reportedly facing charges of involvement in a scamming ring that duped elderly North Americans out of $300,000.

Already, the JFC advertises an anonymous hot line for reporting scammers with potential rewards for arrests, but authorities complained to the Jamaica Gleaner that the activity is deeply embedded in the country.

One official told the news outlet that there are "police, teachers, politicians and even doctors who are scamming. The current law was hastily established, but it is just another basket given to carry water, so there is very little that the police can do about lotto scamming."

And this money conned, largely from US citizens, has been linked to the purchases of illegal guns and ammunition.

InSight Crime Analysis

The government's indication that it plans to heighten the pressure on scammers is welcome, albeit recycled news for the island.

The crime has reportedly bedeviled Jamaica since the early 2000s, and with the country stepping up its broadband internet services, it may become more democratized. The National Broadband Initiative, supported by the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited seeks to provide internet access to every Jamaican household by 2030.

The the initiative would provide a boost in connectivity for citizens, it may deliver the knock-off effect of spreading lottery scamming capabilities further throughout the country.

In the past, scamming rings have mostly operated in Jamaica's western region, but law enforcement told the Jamaica Gleaner that already these organizations are migrating beyond urban centers to rural areas as well.

SEE ALSO: Jamaica Homicide Spike Fueled by Lottery Scam

Such diffusion is a worrying prospect considering the role scamming rings have played over the years in fuelling violence in the country. Indeed, Jamaica remained at the top position for homicide rates in the region in 2021, held up in part by scamming rings competing over contact lists in the illicit economy.

Indeed, the consolidation of these gangs has both Jamaican and US officials nervous, considering the resultant increases in their purchasing power. The Jamaica Gleaner reported that as Jamaican gangs boost their revenues, so too are they increasing their weapons caches.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CARIBBEAN / 12 MAY 2023

Who are the top Caribbean drug kingpins that have shaped the region's cocaine trafficking for decades?…

CARIBBEAN / 30 APR 2022

The arrest of a sitting head of government on drug trafficking charges is almost unheard of.

BRAZIL / 8 NOV 2022

As gold prices have skyrocketed, a boom in mining across the Amazon Basin has flourished, leaving a deep environmental footprint.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…