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written by the Jamaican star
Since the Montego Bay lottery scam phenomenon hit the fan in recent years, the grim reaper has been having a field day hunting down players in that illicit trade, sometimes in "Final Destination" fashion.
The lucrative fraud cited by police as playing a major role in the skyrocketing homicide rate in western Jamaica, boasts an average of 11 to 12 deaths per month.
MoBay residents said hardly a week passes without hearing of a lotto scammer being found dead, dying in a questionable manner or mysteriously going missing.
One resident said the most recent incident was Sunday's car crash along the Ironshore main road.
scam death
Witnesses report that a 24-year-old man was thrown through the windscreen of his car during an accident. He landed on the asphalt and the vehicle rolled down the street and landed on top of him.
"Dem curse man, death a follow dem,"Paraphernalia*, a Montego Bay resident said. "Nowadays is as if yuh can jus hear how some a dem dying an jus know dat is a scam death dat. Imagine, yuh fly outta de car an it roll come back come drop pon yuh buss up yuh head and yuh belly is like dem cyan escape it."
The resident spoke of another situation a few months earlier where another player in the scam managed to escape an abduction, only to be re-abducted a few days afterwards and viciously killed.
Police said last April, residents discovered the body of a 20-year-old man in a suitcase at a dump in Porto Bello, St James. The man had been stabbed 10 times and stuffed in a suitcase. His car was also set ablaze. The deceased had only managed to escape a near fatal abduction in Kingston a week earlier.
partially severed
Just last month, the Montego Bay police reported to a homicide scene in Bogue Village where they stumbled upon the body of a 22-year-old scammer. His head was partially severed.
With the numerous deaths, there have been claims that the men are cursed and efforts have been made by the con men to seek protection through the use of witchcraft.
One church leader from Montego Bay told THE STAR yesterday that because of their lifestyle, death will continue to follow the con men. "The way they are dying is questionable, very violent. It would suggest some curse or bad blessing," the minister said. "Like the Good Book says, you follow his commandments blessings will follow, if you don't then the curse will come. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end is death, so as long as they continue in that path then death will follow them. "
The lottery scam came to light in 2005 and has since boomed into a multi-million-dollar business for criminals. The trade has been blamed for scores of ruthless killings in and around the busy city. Players in the fraud use illicitly obtained personal information about United States citizens to con them, via telephone, into sending money under the guise that they won the lottery.
*Names changed upon request.
Since the Montego Bay lottery scam phenomenon hit the fan in recent years, the grim reaper has been having a field day hunting down players in that illicit trade, sometimes in "Final Destination" fashion.
The lucrative fraud cited by police as playing a major role in the skyrocketing homicide rate in western Jamaica, boasts an average of 11 to 12 deaths per month.
MoBay residents said hardly a week passes without hearing of a lotto scammer being found dead, dying in a questionable manner or mysteriously going missing.
One resident said the most recent incident was Sunday's car crash along the Ironshore main road.
scam death
Witnesses report that a 24-year-old man was thrown through the windscreen of his car during an accident. He landed on the asphalt and the vehicle rolled down the street and landed on top of him.
"Dem curse man, death a follow dem,"Paraphernalia*, a Montego Bay resident said. "Nowadays is as if yuh can jus hear how some a dem dying an jus know dat is a scam death dat. Imagine, yuh fly outta de car an it roll come back come drop pon yuh buss up yuh head and yuh belly is like dem cyan escape it."
The resident spoke of another situation a few months earlier where another player in the scam managed to escape an abduction, only to be re-abducted a few days afterwards and viciously killed.
Police said last April, residents discovered the body of a 20-year-old man in a suitcase at a dump in Porto Bello, St James. The man had been stabbed 10 times and stuffed in a suitcase. His car was also set ablaze. The deceased had only managed to escape a near fatal abduction in Kingston a week earlier.
partially severed
Just last month, the Montego Bay police reported to a homicide scene in Bogue Village where they stumbled upon the body of a 22-year-old scammer. His head was partially severed.
With the numerous deaths, there have been claims that the men are cursed and efforts have been made by the con men to seek protection through the use of witchcraft.
One church leader from Montego Bay told THE STAR yesterday that because of their lifestyle, death will continue to follow the con men. "The way they are dying is questionable, very violent. It would suggest some curse or bad blessing," the minister said. "Like the Good Book says, you follow his commandments blessings will follow, if you don't then the curse will come. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end is death, so as long as they continue in that path then death will follow them. "
The lottery scam came to light in 2005 and has since boomed into a multi-million-dollar business for criminals. The trade has been blamed for scores of ruthless killings in and around the busy city. Players in the fraud use illicitly obtained personal information about United States citizens to con them, via telephone, into sending money under the guise that they won the lottery.
*Names changed upon request.
