Money being returned from Lotto Scam

The partnership between the United States government through the JOLT (Jamaican Operations Linked to Telemarketing) taskforce has resulted in repatriated funds to victims, says Charge d’ Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, Isiah Parnell.


“My understanding is that there has been several thousands of dollars that have been recovered through this programme, and that have been sent back to Americans in the U.S. or Jamaicans living in the U.S. who have been victims of these (lottery) scams,” Parnell revealed during a press briefing with journalists in Montego Bay, St. James.

The taskforce comprises the United States’ Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) division, the United States Embassy in Jamaica and several national authorities including the Jamaica Constabulary Force; the Customs and Passport and Immigration departments; the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court; the Financial Investigation Division of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. The team will focus on stamping out the deadly multibillion-dollar lottery scam industry, which has its genesis in Montego Bay.

Parnell acknowledged that public sensitization on illicit activities such as the lottery scam, is a shared responsibility between law enforcement officials and the American customers.

"These scams not only affect American citizens but Jamaicans as well who are living the United States, and we have certainly dedicated some of our embassy resources to train local law enforcement agencies on how to deal with this type of issue,” he added.

Nevertheless, he admitted that the lotto scam is not unique to Jamaica. The scam involves the use of illicitly obtained personal information on potential victims, particularly US retirees, to con them into sending them money on the pretext that they have won a lottery and need to send a processing fee to claim their winnings.
Meanwhile, the turbulent economic climate in the US has not affected operations at its embassy in Kingston, noted the Charge d’ Affaires.

“We are fighting to get additional staffing in the consular section in some of our agencies, so we don’t expect that what’s going on in the U.S. economy will affect the kinds of services that we’ve always been able to provide,” he said.

The intention by Jamaicans to travel to the US resulted in 105,000 non-immigrant visa applications being processed at the embassy in Kingston, last year.