The lottery scam is being criticised by many law-abiding Jamaicans and some have been wondering how such a scam could have existed for such a long time.

It must be noted that the lottery scam is a fraud which begins with calls or notices to people both locally and abroad that they have won large sums of money, usually millions of dollars, through a lottery.

The purported winners are then told to send certain sums of money for processing fees or transfers before they can get their winnings. However, it is a trick to get people's money and thousands of people, especially old people, are fleeced by this trick. It is reported that some Jamaicans are lottery scammers.

There have been mixed reactions as to the reason such a scam has flourished.

One man, in commenting on the issue recently, said it was greed why the scam had been in operation for such a long time.

"One night, I received a phone call that I had won some money in a lottery although I did not buy a lottery ticket," the man said.

lots of plans

"I told the caller that I was very happy to know that I won US$2 million and had lots of plans for the money. The caller, who was a man said, "Congratulations, sir" and I said "Thank you". He then proceeded to tell me that I should send US$500 for the money to be sent quickly to me.

"My response was if I win so much money, all you have to do is take the US$500 from it and in addition take US$100,000 from the money for yourself. The man became very abusive, uttered some expletives and ended the call.

"I say people are greedy or stupid because they should know that if people say you win money, they have the money so they must take their fees from the money," he added.

A woman who was responding to the man, who she said was her brother, had a different view. She pointed out to him that many of the victims were old people and they were easily tricked.

"Fraudsters have been around for a very long time and they are very good at their trade; so people should be educated about the lottery scam so they will not be tricked by them," she said.

Persons who are involved in the lottery scam will face stiff penalties if convicted of the offence. On March 21, the Senate passed a bill to prosecute persons involved in the lottery scam. A person found guilty of such an offence will be fined and in addition can be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years' imprisonment.