WHERE IT STARTED
FIRST SEEN: 1980s-1990s (postal); Jamaican phone version c. 2006 · GOING FOR: About 20 years in its current form
Postal lottery letters circulated in the 1980s-1990s; the modern phone version began in Montego Bay, Jamaica, around 2006, and the first large US trial was Lavrick Willocks's in North Dakota in 2018.
Letters announcing an unclaimed lottery win in exchange for a processing fee circulated by post in the 1980s and 1990s (Canadian and Spanish 'lottery' letters), and Nigerian email variants followed in the 2000s. The dominant modern form is the Jamaican lottery scam: from about 2006, callers in Montego Bay using lead lists told elderly Americans they had won Publishers Clearing House or Mega Millions and must pay taxes first. US losses were reported in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year by 2013, prompting the FTC's Project JOLT and Jamaica's Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) Act 2013.
HOW IT WORKS
A call, letter, text or social-media message says the target has won a large prize or sweepstakes, often naming a real brand. To release it they must pay 'taxes', 'insurance', 'customs' or 'delivery' fees by wire, gift card, cash in the post or crypto. Callers phone daily, build a relationship and escalate demands, sometimes turning to threats. In Jamaica, callers pay for lead lists of older Americans and use US-based 'runners' and money mules to collect and forward funds.
You 'won' a lottery or sweepstakes you never enteredFee, tax or insurance must be paid before the prize is releasedPayment by gift card, wire, crypto or cash mailed in a magazineCaller has a Jamaican (876) or foreign number or spoofed brand IDInstruction to keep the win secret from family or your bank
HOW USEFUL IT IS TO CRIMINALS
A lead list, a phone and a script are enough, and older victims can be worked for years - one Washington woman paid Carty over $550,000. Reported US sweepstakes losses ran to $416 million in just 2.5 years (2011-2013), and although Jamaica has extradited several ring members, the FTC estimates most callers are never identified.
THE DAMAGE IT HAS CAUSED
$416 million
US reported sweepstakes-scam losses over 2.5 years (2011-mid 2013); newer verified total not found — FTC via National Sheriffs' Association
The FTC recorded $416 million in reported sweepstakes-scam losses over 2011-2013 and continues to log the category, but no current verified annual total was found; the largest recent prosecuted case is the $9 million Trought ring. Victims are overwhelmingly elderly and some have been driven to suicide or bankruptcy.
$9 million+ Taken from over 200 elderly Americans by the ring in which Jordan Trought was sentenced in 2026 (US Attorney S.D.N.Y., Sept 2026)
$416 million Sweepstakes-scam losses reported to the FTC in 2011-2013 (2.5 years) (FTC via National Sheriffs' Association)
$5.8 million Losses in the Willocks case, the first large Jamaican lottery scam tried in the US (AP via Seattle Times, Oct 2018)
WHO USES IT MOST
MOST OF ALL: 🇯🇲 Jamaica ▸
The FTC's Project JOLT and dozens of US prosecutions trace the modern prize scam to call centres in Montego Bay, and every major extradited defendant (Willocks, Trought, Carty) is Jamaican (FTC; US Attorneys' offices).
Jamaica (call centres, St James parish)United States (elderly victims, runners and mules)Canada (victims of Jamaican and domestic callers)Nigeria (email lottery variants)Spain (postal 'El Gordo' lottery letters)
GOVERNMENTS LINKED TO IT
No government is documented as using this method.
NOTABLE PEOPLE WHO USED IT — RANKED BY PROFILE ORDER (NOT BY AMOUNT)
#1 Jordan Trought CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
More than $9M stolen; $6,166,227 forfeiture · 2019-2025
High-ranking member of a Jamaica-based sweepstakes ring that told more than 200 elderly Americans they had won prizes; extradited in October 2025 and sentenced to eight years in New York.
SOURCE: US Attorney S.D.N.Y.; IRS-CI, Sept 2026
#2 Lavrick Willocks CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
$5.8M from at least 95 victims · 2011-2017
Alleged mastermind of a Montego Bay lottery scam run from a mansion he shared with his mother; extradited and sentenced to six years in North Dakota, the first large-scale Jamaican lottery case tried in the US.
SOURCE: Seattle Times / AP, 15 Oct 2018; KVRR
#3 Roshard Andrew Carty CONVICTED (PLEADED GUILTY)REPORT PENDING
More than $550,000 from one victim · 2025
Jamaican citizen who posed as a Publishers Clearing House employee and told an elderly Washington woman she had won $22 million and a car, extracting more than $550,000 in fees; arrested in Jamaica and pleaded guilty in Tacoma.
SOURCE: US Attorney W.D. Wash., 2026
SOURCES
US Attorney S.D.N.Y., 'Jamaican National Sentenced To Eight Years For Role In Sweepstakes Fraud Targeting Older Americans', Sept 2026
IRS Criminal Investigation, Trought sentencing
Seattle Times/AP, 'Man said to be Jamaican lottery scam kingpin gets 6 years', 15 Oct 2018
US Attorney W.D. Wash., Roshard Carty guilty plea, 2026
National Sheriffs' Association, 'Jamaica Sweepstakes Fraud Targets Older People'
BBB, 'Sweepstakes, Lottery, and Prize Scams' study
Minnesota Attorney General, 'Jamaican Lottery Scam' consumer notice