NSC declares lottery scamming 'a major national security threat'

The National Security Council (NSC) has declared advance fee fraud, commonly known as lottery scamming, a major national security threat to the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)/Global Services Sector and has directed the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) to aggressively target its perpetrators.

The decision was taken during the last meeting of the NSC on Thursday, following presentations from the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) and the Financial Services Commission (FSC), according to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister.

It escalates the Government’s response to the widening negative impact of lottery scamming by directing a coordinated law enforcement and regulatory approach to the issue and builds on the July directive which mandated a joint legislative and policy response.

According to the GSAJ, lottery scamming has cost the BPO sector more than J$6 billion, with the government losing up to J$900 million in revenue annually.

Scamming has also directly resulted in the dismissal of almost 2,000 BPO employees and the loss of several thousand related Jamaican jobs.

Chairman of the NSC, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness insisted that lottery scamming requires urgent and robust attention.

“Scamming and other cybercrimes are not victimless crimes or crimes affecting only persons overseas or rich people,” he said while addressing the meeting.

“Scamming now threatens the second largest foreign exchange earner and employment generation industry in Jamaica. The Government is committed to eradicating this problem. We will work with the BPO/GSS, local and overseas law enforcement and regulators to coordinate a comprehensive response to this threat”, he said.

As an added layer of response, the FSC has committed to implementing a regulated architecture which will better enable elevated supervision and information exchange on persons carrying out fraudulent and scamming activities in the BPO/GSS sector.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.