Jamaica Scam

ComplaintsScamsSweepstakes Winnings

Complaint

0
Harold L
Country: United States
On 2-19-10 I received a telephone call from 876-306-4959 stating I had won $4.5 million and a car from a sweepstakes at the MGM in Las Vegas. To collect all I had to do was pay 1% of the winnings to cover taxes/fees. I told him he was a scam artist and not interested. He proceeded to call numerous times from the same number throughout the day which I did not answer. Later that day my wife received a call from 876-806-4026 stating he was the manager for some company and his name was JM Kingston and he was calling to verify that the sweepstakes was not a scam. My wife informed him it was a scam and not to call again. This guy was very persistent. Remember the old saying: "If it is too good to be true, then it probably is." Tried to find what US government agency to report this to but appears since originating outside the US no one has any authority. Just wanted to post a warning to others and get the word out.

Comments

123Next
  • 0
    CB
    Hey guys, wow, I can't thank you enough for all this information! Sad to say, I'm only 19 and when a 19 hears she won 2.5 million and a benz..she's going to get a little more than excited!! Anyways I have a very familiar story. I got called on a saturday night at around 6:30(which is not working hours anyways, i realized after) The man on the phone told me I came in second place with the winning of that huge amount of money and car. He procecced to tell me the first prize winner won last week(5 million). I told him I didn't believe him, he kept saying "sweetheart, you won fair and square" He also asked me if i wanted to be a live tv when they show up or keep it private. Now, as i sai,d I truly thought i was a winner for a split second and told them i would do it on live tv. Then, they told me to write down the guys names who were driving the trailer and the interviewer for television. James Miller was the only name i caught. They didnt ask me any personal information just that they would call me monday at 9:30am to confirm the address that they had(which they didn't tell me, as i did not tell them either)
    I'm not going to lie, I believed him, I just couldnt see someone going into such detail for it to be a scam. I talked to the guy for 45 minutes. How can people waste their time like this just to screw people over? its sickening. Anyways, I thank every single one of you for your stories..now I know what to do when this coward calls me back :D
  • 0
    jt
    | 1 reply
    had same thing happen to me. got a call from bob pounder saying i won the publishers clearing house for 1.5 million. didnt give him any information but he insisted i go to get a green dot and put 299.00 on it for my lawyer when he hands me my check. looked up info and found this page. thanks guys! phone number was 1-876-398-9942.
    • 0
      SloneSam. replies to jt
      The second day I’m getting very suspicious phone calls from Kingston JM, the phone number is 1-876-534-6677. The person has Asian or like that accent telling me that I have delivery a package from UPS????? And they want me be at home by the time of delivery????? I Google it and find out what happened in Minnesota. So they decided to start the same in Texas. I reported to Attorney General Office, Department of Safety and to the Police Department.
  • 0
    teri930@yahoo.com
    the call i received yesterday and today  allso was a 876  298   {  dont know the rest  wanted me to pay shipping  over 1 mllion  dollor  from  a john  walker    john   washington.
  • 0
    punkinvine
    So frustrating to know this scam is still being used. The person I know had a postcard in her mailbox that said "YOU MIGHT BE A  WINNER". It listed a number to call. The winner only if you pay the fees.  An elderly lady I know did send the green dot money pak loaded with some cash to the scoundrels. NEVER answer an 876 number as it is Jamaica and racking up over $200  in international phone charges in no time. This is only the beginning. The harassment of the phone ringing constantly is beastly. DO NOT pay them a dime.The phone calls will drive you crazy!  The caller ID is often unknown or from 876. Often also from Kingston Je. (Jamaica) .  I would like for the cell phone company to block these calls.  Maybe  the cell phone companies stand to profit from these charges. Sad situation when they get your number.
  • 0
    wystamps@gmail.com
    | 1 reply
    Let me assure you this is still live and still going strong. My father, with beginning stages of dementia, has been a victim, sending most of his savings before we knew anything. I'm now collecting stories and information in the hopes of publishing something...Wayne
    • 0
      I'm No Sucker replies to wystamps@gmail.com
      Wayne - I really feel for you in this situation.  I had a similar situation with my Dad with early stages of dementia getting sucked in by such a scam.  I have posted my story.  I hope you can use it and others to publish something and hopefully prevent what happened to your father happening to anyone else.
  • 0
    KiKI) @Yahoo.com
    This scammer from Jamaica our 876 and middle no. ranging from 200 to 800 using magic jack no. also they using magic jack in the U.S. by looking in the Internet this hacker stealing your info.
  • 0
    I'm No Sucker
    Yes - I have the same story - $4.5 million plus Mercedes Benz in blue.  I had been a randomly selected as a Wal Mart shopper - and this was Wal Mart promotion.  They also said they were part of Publishers Clearing House.  Same Jamaican phone number and accents, not very professional delivery, and they (Bob Pounder, the first caller, then David Johnson, his manager) kept calling me "dear," "sweet heart," "honey," etc.  They wanted to know the balance and credit limit on my credit cards.  They said they would pay off my balances to be sure I would be able to pay the taxes on the prize.  They said they were so legitimate that they wouldn't even ask for my credit card numbers, rather, they gave me their bank account information and told me to use that to pay off my balances.  I said "Wow, that is so generous of you, I'll do that just as soon as I see that Mercedes in my driveway."  Following that they cut the call short and asked me to call back in an hour and a half.  Needless to say, I didn't waste my time.
  • 0
    I'm No Sucker
    I can't believe this!!!  I didn't call them back at 11:30 am so David Johnson called me at 12:00 pm - quite irritated that I hadn't called them back at 11:30.  So - because I had expressed some doubt, he said he would put me through to the Better Business Bureau.  I got "connected" to someone - who was obviously the same person, he said he was Robert Williamson, the President of the BBB.  And he completely continued with the same spiel.  I kept asking for confirmation that he was from the BBB, he said he was, but continued with telling me what I had won.  Then I asked him his name - he said "David - ah ah, no, Robert - David is my middle name, a lot of people call me David, but my name is Robert."  Yeah - right.
  • 0
    I'm No Sucker
    Oh - and there were dogs barking in the background.  David Johnson said not to worry about those, they were the security dogs, patrolling the premises with the security guards.  But one of those dogs was obviously a yappy little dog.  I could just picture the security guards patrolling this huge complex in Las Vegas with a Bichon Frise or Chihuahua.
  • 0
    Tired of the calls
    Ever since a Jamaican guy called me in the middle of the night on MagicJack while I was in Hanoi, Vietnam and pretended to be my friend from Nigeria. This guy kept calling. He convinced me that he was my Nigerian  
    friend and needed $50 dollars. I quite answering and he gave my number to other Jamaican guys. Now I am back in the states and this guy called me to tell me to send him some money because he is hungry and he has a gun and if I don't send money by Western Union, he will take the gun and use it to rob people. I told him to do what he had to do. I do not have any money. So now I get the PCH scam where I need to pay $198.00
    at Western Union to pick up the package and win millions and a car.They call me sweetheart throughout the call. I said that I don't have any money, they said well you will get your social security tomorrow. I laughed and said that I am not old enough to collect social security. They said they would call back later. Different people call, male and female. I just tell them to give it to someone else and hang up. But now I want to change my Magic Jack number because they have passed it around down there.
  • 0
    Concerned for vulnerable people
    I just left an 86 year old friend who asked me to drive him to Wells Fargo because a lady has been calling him telling him he has won lots of money and it is sitting in Wells Fargo and he needs to come get it.  He told me she would be calling back this morning between 9 and 9:30.   Sure enough @ about 9:45AM CST, the phone rang and he answered.  I heard him tell her he was on his way to Wells Fargo.  However, she had decided he needed to go to WalMart or KMart and put $300 on a green dot card.  That's when he asked me to talk to her.  Yes, Jamaican accent, yes, difficult to understand.....I asked her what would happen once the money was loaded on a green dot card....where do we mail it?  She told me the check in the amount of $2,500,000 would be personally delivered.  She told me my friend would have to have 2 forms of ID and the green dot card to give to the person delivering the check.  I was so infuriated!  I told her I knew it was a scam and asked why they insist on doing this to old people.  She argued with me telling me it was not a scam.  I asked her for her name, phone number (he didn't have caller ID) and address.  She cursed me and hung up and called back 5 minutes later to talk to my friend.  I could overhear her telling him that he shouldn't let anyone stand in his way because it was his money.  He handed the phone to me again.  The woman told me she was from Publisher's Clearinghouse and wanted to make sure he got his money, but I was causing him to lose his winnings.  I heard children crying in the background.  I told her that people who work for Publisher's Clearinghouse don't have children hanging out in their cubicles.  She cursed me again and a man got on the phone.  He was even more difficult to understand.  I kept asking for the name, address and phone number of the company he was calling from.  He used some very disgusting language, and screamed at me.  I now wonder, what if we had pretended to fall for this....would someone have come to the house?  I'm thinking no, but that would be a great way to find out  more about the scam.  I'm thinking the next step would have been for my friend to have to give them the card number and security code over the phone before they would send anyone with the check....
  • 0
    Cami T
    This is still going on... 3 years later! Our grandmother has been contacted multiple times a day for the last 2.5 months. These are some sick people praying on others. Has anyone had any luck prosecuting?
  • 0
    Tom G
    5/5/2014 call from 876-479-5670
    Mr. David King called me repeatedly after I told him never to call me again. He told me I won $3.5M, a brand new Mercedes, and a flat screen TV. He gave me a badge #, Tracking #, Docket #, Package#. He told me Donald Trump was giving away this money, and that 99% of the taxes had been paid. I only needed to go to CVS and buy a pre-payed "Green-Back-Money-Back" Scratch card worth $250.
  • 0
    Judy
    This is going on the second week that this is happening to my step Father.  I finally got his son involved and they have now filed a complaint with the FBI.  Please warn all your elderly parents.  They just don't understand modern technology and according to what I've read on the internet, they are targeting the elderly.  It is very sad and I hate to see anyone else have to help their parents out with this...so far we have new cell numbers and it looks like we will need to be changing the land line too (they won't give up their land line yet).
  • 0
    PJ
    Just got a call from someone in Jamaica  (876-289-5594)saying the same thing...something about our credits scores being good so we'll get 2.5 million and a Mercedes Benz delivered to our door tomorrow afternoon.  I told him I'd believe it when I saw it.  He really wanted to talk to my husband so he was very sweet to me and said to make sure my husband was home in the morning when he calls again.  We'll for sure know what not to say!  Thanks for posting comments on this!
  • 0
    L from Canada
    I received a call from the number 1-876-446-0922 (came up as Jamaica) and a man named "Bob Foster" with a Jamaican accent told me "Congratulations! You've been selected as a winner for a Donald Trump Christmas sweepstake through an MGM is Las Vegas"  You've accumulated ___points shopping at Walmart that has qualified you to win $350,000 and a brand new car from Kia Motors !!"  He kept calling me sweetheart.  

    He was very convincing & persistent.  He had me for a little while.

    To collect all I needed to do was pay 1% of the winnings to cover taxes/fees. ($500) and i would get it back when He gave me a name & address for shipping which was "Colby Clark (fake name) at 807.N Halagueno st."  WHICH IS LOCATED IN NEW MEXICO. Not Las Vegas, or Jamaica.

    Needless to say this is a giant scam, which is just too good to be true.  But be warned, they put great detail into their speech and make it sound almost legit. DO NOT SEND ANYONE MONEY WITH OUT PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION- If you've legitimately won a sweepstake, you are not required to pay any money in order to receive your winnings.
  • 0
    Disgusted
    Well, my mother fell for this scam. Thousands upon thousands of dollars. THOUSANDS. I even pointed out to her it was a scam..initially she would not listen. .. they were going to give her MONEY!  But first she had to given them the 'taxes' due to collect her sweepstakes $

    They do what is called 'mob calling'.. they team up together and call within 1 to 5 minutes of each other for hours and I mean HOURS A DAY, FOR DAYS ON END. WEEKS UPON WEEKS... they are BLOOD SUCKERS....Insisting and getting 'very creative' for various ways to 'make sure you will get your sweepstakes $'; go send money via Walmart; overnight hard cash plus various denominations of gift cards; and yes, they will show up at your door tomorrow with a big ol'bag of money.

    Needless to say - she would not stop. Thousands. did I say 'thousands'?  THOUSANDS.

    So weeks later, she has finally stopped. All phone lines changed.  They are persistent and yes, deliberately prey on seniors who 'want to make it rich'.

    Yes, they did get one woman as she was getting her overnight package.

    Vile people ...
  • 0
    Annoyed
    My mom and grandma got a call a few days about from someone calming to be named 'Larry' with PHC. Saying they had won 2.5million and a new car. My mom and grandma fell for it sending them $150. My mom told them they were being reported and now they keep calling her. She has stopped answering and working on having them blocked. TODAY I got a call from the same number saying that they got my number from my mom, who did not give it to them. They also knew my age. He was asking for my name. I have no idea how they got my number but its really annoying as hell.

    The number we keep receiving calls from is 876-479-5670
123Next

Post a new comment