Dan Rather comes to JA, but not for vacation

In January, journalist Dan Rather visited Jamaica. There was quite a bit of media attention focused on the visit. It was not part of a promotional tourism campaign, however. Unfortunately, Rather visited Jamaica as part of an investigative team looking into the lottery scams that originate mainly on the north coast.

In the video (see link above), Rather opens with an elderly couple who were victimized by the scam. He tells us of mansions in Jamaica built solely from these nefarious profits. It is heart-breaking, but as Rather states, many here perceive it as a victimless crime.

Apparently, these scammers work by accessing personal information. They then contact US or Canadian residents and inform them they have won a prize but first need to send in a fee. Once they have some basic information, they then inundate people with calls for more money, preying mainly on elderly and vulnerable people. Check out the clip in the link above, it looks like some outstanding journalism.