Ohio city warns of Jamaican lottery scam

WESTERN BUREAU:

The illicit Jamaican lottery scam, which continues to be an albatross for local and international law-enforcement officers, was the subject of news for the small suburban city of Tallmadge in the United States yesterday.

"The lottery phone scam based in Jamaica has hit the area," the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs warned in the Hudson Hub Times in Ohio.

The article referred to a Tallmadge resident receiving a call on June 22 that he had won a Jeep and US$1.3 million in a lottery. In order to collect the jackpot, the resident was instructed to wire US$2,955 for taxes and call 876-580-7109 to advise that the money had been sent. However, the man was not tricked into the scam.

"Consumers need to beware of fraudulent telemarketers based in Jamaica calling residents and telling them that they have won a lottery," the article quoted Cynthia Sich, director of the county consumer affairs office.

"Many times, the callers identify themselves as lottery representatives, lawyers, or customs officials, and all the winner needs to do is pay for taxes, customs duties, or fees before they can claim the prize."

The lottery scam, which has its genesis in Montego Bay, St James, has left a trail of blood in several inner-city communities.

Local police blame the crime spree in St James on the capacity of criminals to access illicit funding through the 'lotto scam', which is believed to be funnelling millions of dollars into the criminal underworld.

During a Gleaner Editors' Forum in Montego Bay in May, Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater said they were exploring the extradition of key players to face stiffer penalties in other countries.

High-ranking officials at the United States Embassy in Kingston believe Jamaican lottery scammers fleeced an estimated J$2.5 billion from their victims in 2008 alone.

The multibillion-dollar figure was contained in a sensitive diplomatic cable sent from the Kingston post on January 6, 2009, to senior operatives in Washington, DC.

"It is estimated that more than US$30 million was transferred to Jamaica by victims of the lottery scam," read a section of the cable obtained through the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.