MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, March 16 2015 – After fearing for several years that the lotto scam was an imminent threat to their survival, stakeholders in the information and communication technology/business process outsourcing (ICT/BPO) sector say the danger is now almost non-existent.
The diminution of the lotto-scam threat has been credited to the effectiveness of the near two-year-old Law Reform Fraudulent Transactions (Special Provisions) Act, which is aimed at crippling the activities of scammers.
President of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ), Yoni Epstein, got nods of approval from fellow BPO stakeholders when he heaped praises on the police for what he described as their success in curtailing lotto scamming.
“Since the Lottery Scam Act and the Anti-Lottery Scam Task Force have been put in place, I would say we have seen a significant decline in lottery scamming,” said Epstein.
“There are still issues, and it is not perfect … but there has been a significant decline, and we do not see as many problems as we used to have and the clients are not asking as many questions as they used to.”
During the heyday of the lottery scam, between 2006 and 2010, several major players in the sector pleaded with the Government to do something about the illicit scheme – a ploy used to dupe unsuspecting, mainly elderly American citizens out of millions of dollars.
Stakeholders argued that, left to flourish, the scam would destroy the ICT sector. (Jamaica Gleaner)
