Damion Barrett, International Lottery Scam, Florida 2024

Gruesome Times has learned that Damion Barrett, a U.S. citizen, has been caught up in an international lottery scam that targeted older Americans. The scam has been ongoing for several years, with Barrett and his co-defendant, Oneike Barnett, allegedly fleecing hundreds of millions of dollars from victims.

According to sources, Barrett and Barnett used call centers in South America to contact and extort Spanish-speaking residents of the United States, demanding money they did not owe. The operation was so brazen that it even involved lottery scams perpetrated from Jamaica, a country known to be a hub for international lottery scams.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division investigated the case, and the Jamaican government eventually extradited Barrett to the United States. His co-defendant, Oneike Barnett, was previously apprehended in August 2013 when he visited the United States, arriving at the airport in Orlando, Florida. Barnett pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve five years in federal prison in April 2014.

As part of the ongoing efforts to combat consumer fraud, law enforcement and non-profit groups met to discuss the issue and share intelligence gathered through enforcement. The meeting was held in anticipation of National Consumer Protection Week (March 1 through 7). The group also announced that they will be releasing a tip sheet aimed at educating consumers and stopping these targeted schemes.

‘As we approach National Consumer Protection Week, the Justice Department remains steadfast in our commitment to pursue those who commit consumer fraud, particularly the invidious schemes that target older Americans and the Spanish-speaking community,’ said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Civil Division. ‘We also recognize that the most important thing we can do to stop these schemes is to help educate the consumers who are being targeted so that together we can prevent these schemes from succeeding in the first place.’

The meeting with national and local nonprofit groups focused on the affected populations and offered an opportunity for the law enforcement community to share intelligence gathered through enforcement and for the non-profit groups to provide insight learned from their members. Officials from the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and FTC distributed materials to organizations in attendance to provide to their constituents in an effort to raise awareness on how to avoid the fraud schemes when confronted with them.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department achieved a first in one such case. The Jamaican government extradited its first Jamaican citizen, Damion Barrett, wanted on criminal charges in an international lottery scheme that targeted older Americans.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/law-enforcement-and-non-profits-meet-halt-scams-targeting-specific-groups-americans