‘I didn’t want to scam anymore’

A born-again Christian woman, who for more than a decade swindled unsuspecting Americans of their livelihoods, says she is now burdened with guilt for her criminal past.

However, while willing to offer restitution, she hopes following the scriptural guidelines will not land her boys behind bars.

Hyacinth*, a single mother and teacher assistant at a prominent early childhood facility in western Jamaica, was aware when her sons, now in their early 30s, were involved in lottery scamming, but admitted to keeping silent.

“My silence was not out of fear or support for their actions, it was out of necessity,” Hyacinth, a college dropout, told The Gleaner, “We could barely make ends meet, as they would say, but even with my academic qualification, I was not able to get a steady job and, when I was able to earn, it was just for the basics.”

Hyacinth and her sons reside in an inner-city community where the allure of criminality is constant, survival is a daily challenge, and hopes of a better life are a pipe dream.

“It was difficult to object to what they were doing because there were days when I had to let them eat and I stayed hungry,” she recalled tearfully, “It was so bad that, when they were younger, I gave my body to a shop owner in the community to put food on our table that Christmas.”

Most informal settlements in western Jamaica still see the lottery scam as the poor man’s route to escape an environment that perpetuates poverty and despair.

Also known as ‘advance-fee fraud’, scammers lead victims to believe they have won a drawing or lottery, but the cash or prizes will not be released without upfront payment of fees or taxes. But, as the number of players in the scam increased and young men started to flourish financially, the West became a killing field.

Hyacinth’s younger son was the first to start ‘chopping the line’ – another Jamaican term for scamming, but they have never discussed it.

“It was more of a telepathic understanding. We have never spoken about it, but they knew that I was aware because each time I needed something the younger one would just hand me the cash without saying a word.”

Hyacinth no longer went to bed hungry, she could now afford the things she wanted, but deep down she wanted more.

She supported the notion that money fleeced from Americans represents a form of reparation, but has now made an about-face.

“That was my conviction at the time and it might have been out of convenience, but it was a case of what goes around comes around.”

Anthropologist and lecturer at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Dr Herbert Gayle, has argued that the United States is seen as a nation that can afford the losses.

“A lot of people think it’s just reparation and all the different loose terms, but when you speak to people, dem tell you, ‘Well, dem can afford it’,” he said.

However, Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony McLaughlin, head of the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch, responding to the findings of an RJRGLEANER Group-commissioned poll that found that the majority of Jamaicans are opposed to lottery scamming, said citizens have been providing information to assist the police in their fight against the illicit activity.

McLaughlin also indicated that Jamaican scammers don’t see people in the US as being poor or significantly impacted by the funds they lose through illicit activity.

Hyacinth told The Gleaner that she grew tired of waiting for handouts from her boys and instead wanted more.

“My other son was the one that gave me my first ‘client’ because his brother was overly protective,” she said.

“From the moment I called the first ‘client’ and collected that cash in my hand, it was as if my conscience died. It seemed as if something entered my life and made me into a different person.”

She said she believes she was more convincing than most and, within three years, she rehabilitated her home, purchased a property in a neighbouring parish, and established several businesses. Her sons also established several business ventures, leaving a trail of pain and uncertainty, as they took apart innocent lives.

Call that changed her life

Last February, Hyacinth made a call to a new target that would change her life forever. He was a Jamaica-born US Army veteran.

“The first thing he said before I could say a word was that he was a man of God and that he knew that I was a scammer, but he was very calm,” she recalled, “I stuttered as I tried to regain the upper hand in the conversation, but he laughed and began to pray for me, then hung up his phone.

“I then called another ‘client’, who had sent me nearly US$18,000 over a three months period. She was in pieces emotionally because it was her daughter’s college fee and she did not know how to face her with the news,” she recounted,“When I heard that, I remembered that I could not fulfil my dream and complete college because I had no money.”

Since that encounter, Hyacinth has never been the same.

“I decided to follow Jesus Christ. All I earned or acquired suddenly had no value.”

She claimed that she travelled to the US and had the US$18,000 delivered to the victim’s home, while she waited in a car.

“I am afraid of going to jail, and while I know that as a Christian I must seek to return all that I took, my greatest fear is being arrested, but I really wanted to apologise to her in person,” she said.

“There is a tug-of-war in my heart because of the many people I have hurt, some might have died, and I will never be able to pay back all I took. But it would be hard to walk away from all I have obtained.”

She is now in the chicken-rearing business and has already convinced her younger son to shift his focus to legitimate earnings. But ideally she is hoping that both boys will follow in her footsteps by walking away from a life of crime. She admits, however, that it might be difficult.

“My younger son has his first set of chickens ready for sale, and I am praying that he will turn his back on scamming for good,” she said, “I am ready to give back some of what I took, but cannot afford jail time, I only can ask those whom I tricked to forgive me.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com