Class Discussion

Ajani McPherson- 1906985 Alana Davis-2104875

Introduction to Business and Professional Ethics [HUM3016/ENG2016]
Winston Scott

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Lottery Scamming in Jamaica
 Summary
 Jamaica has one of the highest rates of lottery scamming in the world. The illegal activity is
deeply embedded in the country and has been a major issue since the 2010’s.

 Jamaica has upped the ante in the fight against lottery scamming. The Jamaica Constabulary
Force (JCF) now seizes the assets of lottery scammers and has an anonymous hotline for
reporting lottery scamming. In addition to this, the Government of Jamaica has made
amendments to the Extradition Law, relaxing requirements for firsthand evidence in extradition
hearings in court.
 Ethical concerns
 Impersonation of IRS (internal revenue service) officials
 Making threats on people’s lives by disclosing their home
addresses and names of those close to them, etc.
 Scammers disregard the Golden Rule. The Golden rule is to
“do unto others as you would have them to unto you”
(Ghillyer 7).. Online scammers do not follow this rule.  They
aim to cheat people out of money and don’t care who is hurt in
the process.  I highly doubt these scammers would want others
to con them out of their own money.  Online scammers
operate under their own rules, which have little regard for the
welfare of others.
 Relationship to concepts in Ethics

 Scamming disregards key concepts in ethics like Utilitarianism

and Universal Ethics.
 Utilitarianism concerns ethics for the greater good. Scamming is
not for the greater good. It only benefits the scammer. Even when
considering the individualism approach in Ethics which is
concerned with decisions that promote the individual’s best long-
term interests, which ultimately leads to a purpose beyond the self,
scamming cannot be considered an ethical decision because even
though it benefits the individual, it happens at the expense of
another. It enables crime and violence among those close to
scammers and causes and causes a breakdown in acceptable social
standing
 Universal Ethics states that certain universal principles should
apply to all ethical judgement. For example, never kill, lie, steal.
Scammers lie and steal.

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 Who is affected?
There is a plethora of issues that come out of lottery scamming but those who are impacted are on
both sides:
 The victims of the crime, who are obviously financially targeted and cheated;
 The people of the ‘criminal’ country, as the image upheld is shattered by the pinpointed
evildoers;
 The relationship between the countries, i.e. Jamaica and the U.S., become strained;
 The economy of the ‘criminal’ country is also strained due to the dwindling relationship;
 Lost of interest of potential investors
  There is no ethical justification for lottery scamming. It
dismisses the welfare of others and upholds the wants
Conclusion of oneself. At the end of the day lottery scamming
cannot be seen as a decision reflective of one’s good
moral standing.
 References

 Ferguson, S. (2022). Jamaica Prepares to strike anew at Lottery Scammers. InSight Crime
Retrieved from https://insightcrime.org/news/jamaica-prepares-to-strike-anew-at-lottery-
scammers/

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THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
TIME!!! 🪴

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA