Sentencing of Jamaican phone scam mastermind a milestone for U.S. prosecutors
Scammers tell victims they've won a lottery prize but must wire a 'processing' fee
A recent jail sentencing in a phone scam operation may have put a dent in what has become a rival to the drug trade as one of Jamaica's most lucrative criminal enterprises.
Last week, U.S. prosecutors reached a major milestone when Lavrick Willocks, an alleged kingpin in the scam, was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million US in restitution.
According to a local Jamaican news outlet, Willocks faced up to 40 years in prison but prosecutors agreed to a lighter sentence because he co-operated with authorities.
The scammers generally target people, particularly seniors, by telling them they've won a lottery prize in the millions of dollars. All they need to do is pay a processing fee to claim their prize.
The FBI believes there are hundreds of victims, including Canadians.
Agnes Frechette of Winnipeg was one such victim. She ended up losing her life savings, after sending them a total of $6,000 Cdn via Western Union.
"[The man on the phone] said that I was not listening to him and I never came back with the money fast enough for him. So he was going to punish me," she told CBC Winnipeg.
"You find yourself getting weaker every day, and you don't want to tell anybody because it's so, so embarrassing."
Chances of getting money back 'slim'
Jessica Gunson, an acting manager at the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre in North Bay, Ont., says she hears stories like Frechette's every day.
"I think a common trend with victims of fraud is that they are embarrassed or ashamed that they've fallen for the scam and they don't know who to turn to," she told The Current's guest host David Common.
She said the chances of victims getting their money back are "slim." More recently, fraudsters may request payments in bitcoin, making it more difficult for investigators to track the cryptocurrency payments.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan O'Konek prosecuted Willocks, and worked closely with the FBI to uncover the case that spanned five U.S. states.
He said fraudsters find potential victims by using "lead lists" — databases usually used by legitimate telemarketers with information on potential or likely customers.
"Once you pay that initial part of what they think is a fee, they believe so strongly that they will continue to give more and more, because they have already essentially put so much money in," O'Konek told Common.
He added that the scams often target elderly people, who may be less tech-savvy. The scammers may also warn victims that their prize money will be lost if they tell anyone else about their supposed winnings.
Allure of 'Western wealth'
Jovan Scott Lewis, a professor of African-American studies in geography at the University of California in Berkeley, has been studying the lottery scamming industry and community in Montego Bay, Jamaica — where he's originally from.
He told Common that when these types of phone scams grew to prominence around 2012, some of the scammers saw what they were doing as "a form of reparations for slavery, and for the many years of colonialism."
Some coveted the middle-class lifestyle they saw from North American or European tourists who flooded Jamaican beaches in the winter.
A moderately get-rich-quick scheme, like taking part in phone scam operations, offered them a measure of that lifestyle to themselves.
"As a middle income country, and especially in Montego Bay having the kind of regular tourist encounter, there is a kind of familiarity with Western wealth that makes a kind of ambition for that kind of lifestyle a very common experience," he said.
"And so there is a knowledge as to what lifestyle could be had. And because many of the call centres and the access to the victims, it made it quite possible."
Produced by Danielle Carr, Caro Rolando and Alison Masemann.