Jamaican Lottery Scammer war for American states

The lucrative Jamaican lottery scamming industry is now causingparticipants in the illegal activity to fight among themselves because of allegations that fellow Jamaican Lottery scammers are encroaching on their ‘turf’.

According to reports reaching THE STAR, some lottery scammers in western Jamaica have been receiving threats because of allegations that they have been calling states in theUnited States of America that are the territories of other scammers.

Daniel Green*, who operates from Granville, St James, told THE STAR that there have been violent encounters among lottery scammers because of these allegations.

“My group find out say a man and fi him people them start call fi we client inna wi state, so we haffi dismantle them bike fi send them a strong message say fi wi state nuh share up,” said Green, adding that persons have been hospitalised as a result of these acts of violence.

The scammer, who has been a part of the industry for three years, said their cover could be blown if their colleagues continue speaking to the same persons.

“That can give weh the entire thing (scamming) if the people dem a get call from multiple persons,” said Green

Green added that lottery scammers are generally aware of which American states are controlled by specific groups, so “them no have any reason fi step inna anybody territory.”

But a scammer from a farming community in Westmoreland paints a different picture.

“We nuh do the war thing on my side, enuh. If yuh find out a man a call inna your area, you just link him and unuh hash it out,” said Tremaine Linton*, who has been doing lottery scamming for three years.

Linton said the violence is less in his area because there is a smaller number of scammers.

“A MoBay is a bag a man par, but over here is two or three a we par, so we nah go push war weh we caan defend over a one or two client,” said Linton.

Calls to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) revealed that their western office is unaware of this development, but they said they would be investigating the claims.