Commanding Officer at the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigative Branch (C-TOC) Superintendent Anthony McLaughlin says job scams are prevalent in Jamaica.
"People just want to go overseas and work, and so they fall prey to these things irrespective of the fact that the Ministry of Labour, and the police, would have warned them about it," said McLaughlin.
"They still continue to give people their passports and their money. Even sell off their properties just to get into an overseas work programme.
"We tell people, once you are going to get involved in overseas employment, you first need to check with C-TOC, the police, and with the Ministry of Labour," added McLaughlin.
"Persons who are doing those programmes have to go through the Ministry of Labour, and the police would have a list of those persons who are scammers. Until they get that information, we would advise them not to get involved in any such transactions," he said.