Basil Jarrett | Is fraud the new gunman? Jamaica’s other crime crisis

PICTURE THIS: You’re standing in a government office, waiting to renew a government document. The clerk glances at your paperwork, then leans in and whispers, “Yuh want get thru fast? A little ‘ting’ can speed ‘tings up inno”. You sigh, pull out an extra $5,000, and hand it over. Another day, another bribe.

Or maybe you’ve been scammed. Paid for a phone online that never arrived, or handed over cash for the latest and greatest iPhone that can’t show up all now. But did you report it? Probably not.

Or imagine waking up to find your hard-earned savings wiped out – not by a masked gun man – but by a slick-talking scammer with a fake investment scheme. These aren’t movie plots; they are the reality for thousands of Jamaicans, according to the 2023 National Crime Victimisation Survey (JNCVS) published last week by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica.

You see, while last week’s report focused on violent crime, white-collar crimes, like fraud, bribery, and scams, are skyrocketing, draining wallets and eroding trust.

EPIDEMIC OF FRAUD AND BRIBERY

But what shook me most from the survey was the realisation that most people never speak up when these things happen. They keep it quiet, sometimes out of shame, often out of the belief that nothing will come of reporting it. And now, the numbers are in, confirming what many of us have long suspected: Jamaica is battling a quiet but deadly epidemic of fraud and bribery. And worse? We’re not talking about it.

According to the newly published 2023 JNCVS, fraud and bribery cases are surging at an alarming rate. In the last 12 months alone, there were 88,108 incidents of bank or consumer fraud, and a jaw-dropping 39,059 cases of bribery. That’s more than 127,000 white-collar crimes in a single year – almost double the number of reported aggravated assaults. If you ever needed proof that white-collar crime is Jamaica’s new street crime, there it is in black and white.

But here’s where things get worse: of all these incidents, the majority go unreported. According to the survey, only 29.6 per cent of victims of robbery or larceny even bothered to report the crime. Why? The number one reason people gave was, “I could handle it myself”. Let that sink in.

We’re not reporting crime, not because we weren’t victimised, not because the matter was resolved, but because we have so little faith in the system. We’d rather suffer in silence than engage with it.

A CULTURE OF IMPUNITY

It’s no wonder then, that fraudsters, scammers and bribery merchants are growing bolder by the day. Why wouldn’t they? When corrupt perpetrators know that seven out of 10 of their victims will keep quiet, it emboldens them. It creates a culture of impunity. And slowly but surely, our institutions are being eroded, not by bullets or gangs, but by silence.

When we talk about fighting crime in Jamaica, it usually involves sending out the soldiers, putting up CCTV cameras, and declaring states of emergency. But we’ve barely begun to confront the insidious decay that fraud and corruption are causing in our society. These crimes don’t just rob people of money, they rob them of trust. And once trust is gone, social cohesion collapses.

Just look around. Every week, there’s a new report of some prominent figure involved in a shady contract. A public servant taking kickbacks. A bank employee caught siphoning off customer funds. And while those grab the headlines, thousands more ordinary Jamaicans are quietly being targeted by phone scams, online shopping fraud, or unauthorised deductions from their bank accounts. Most are never reported. Many are never resolved.

Perhaps it’s because we think the police won’t care. Or because we’re afraid of looking stupid. Maybe it’s because the systems to report are too complex. Because, because, because …

But here’s what I need people to understand. The greatest threat we face in Jamaica today isn’t just crime. It’s apathy. It’s the normalisation of corruption and Anancy-ism. It’s the belief that “bway, a just so di ting set”. And that belief, if left unchecked, will do more harm than any gunman in Mountain View or Spanish Town ever could.

So, what’s the way forward?

PUBLIC AWAKENING

First, I believe that we need a public awakening that says to Jamaicans, “reporting fraud isn’t just a personal decision, it’s a patriotic one”. One that demands courage to stand up for what’s right. The JNCVS stats must become fuel for a national conversation. When people see that others are pushing back, speaking out and calling out the corruption, they’re more likely to come forward. That effect is powerful.

Second, we must equip and encourage our law enforcement and regulatory bodies to act decisively and publicly. When fraudsters are caught and prosecuted, the public needs to know. Visibility is accountability. And accountability rebuilds trust. Name and shame them we must.

Third, we need to make reporting easier. User-friendly anonymous hotlines and online portals such as MOCA’s 888-MOCA-TIP and Crime-Stop’s 311 make the process accessible and safe. If you can top up your phone in 60 seconds, surely you can report fraud just as quickly.

Finally, we must teach financial literacy from early. Fraud thrives where ignorance lives. If we arm young people with knowledge about how scams work, what phishing looks like, and why it’s okay to say no to suspicious offers, we can nip this problem in the bud.

Let’s be clear: this is not just about protecting the elderly or the gullible. Everyone is a potential target. Everyone. And unless we begin to take white-collar crime as seriously as street crime, Jamaica will continue to bleed – quietly, invisibly, but no less dangerously.

The JNCVS report is more than just data. It’s a mirror. And what it’s showing us is a nation that’s losing trust, losing confidence, and losing its voice. If we want to reclaim our future, it starts with being brave and speaking up.

Major Basil Jarrett is the director of communications at the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and a crisis communications consultant. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Threads @IamBasilJarrett and linkedin.com/in/basiljarrett. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com