A DOJ release says a Jamaican national was sentenced to prison for a lottery scam that defrauded a southwest Washington victim of more than $600,000. The scheme claimed the victim had to pay fees/taxes to receive a multi-million-dollar prize.

The U.S. Department of Justice (Western District of Washington) reports that a Jamaican national was sentenced to prison for an advance-fee lottery scheme that devastated a retiree in southwest Washington. Prosecutors stated that the defendant persuaded the victim to pay substantial sums by falsely claiming she had won a multi-million-dollar prize. The fraud relied on a classic “you must pay fees to receive winnings” structure. Instead of distributing winnings, the scam demanded additional payments described as taxes, processing fees, or other costs tied to releasing the prize. Over time, these requests drained the victim’s money, with the DOJ noting the total loss exceeded $600,000. The release highlights how advance-fee lottery scams remain effective because they exploit hope and urgency—victims are promised large returns but are asked to send money upfront, repeatedly. In this case, the prosecution emphasized that persistence and ongoing fee demands were central to the deception. By detailing the sentence and the size of the financial harm, the DOJ underscored that lottery “winners” who are instructed to pay to claim prizes are not receiving legitimate winnings. The case serves as a warning that these schemes are fraudulent by design and that payment requests should be treated as a red flag.