September 13, 2026

National Security Council declares lottery scamming national security threat; orders aggressive MOCA crackdown

The National Security Council (NSC) has declared advance fee fraud commonly known as lottery scamming, a major security threat to the BPO/Global Services Sector.

The NSC has directed the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) to aggressively target its perpetrators.

The decision was taken at the council’s meeting on Thursday, following presentations from the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) and the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The NSC also used the opportunity to reiterate the devastating impact lottery scamming has had on the local BPO/Global Services Sector and its serious reputational and economic damage to the country.

The GSAJ advised the NSC that scamming has cost the sector more than $6 billion, with the government losing up to $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 Jamaican jobs.

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

Dr Holness said scamming and other cyber crimes are not victimless crimes or crimes affecting only persons overseas or rich people.

He noted that scamming now threatens the second largest foreign exchange earner and employment generation industry in Jamaica and the government is committed to eradicating this problem.

The prime minister added that the BPO/GSS, local and overseas law enforcement and regulators will work together to coordinate a comprehensive response to this threat.

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.