Dear Editor,

In Jamaica scamming can be no doubt placed in the top 10 highest-paying jobs. However, the way it has been publicised it has now been considered as a career that children want to pursue.

Children are enamoured by the type of life that scammers live; the big house, the nice car and the lavish lifestyle have consumed them. When we take a look at print and online media sources, time and time again we read that scammers have been caught and investigations are ongoing. A few have been convicted and some are still doing their thing. The question I want to ask is, what do we think of scamming?

A dictionary definition tells us that a scam is fraudulent scheme, especially for making a quick profit. I will not explore the reasons people give for scamming because that is, I think, self-explanatory. I am not so fully knowledgeable of how the scamming thing works entirely, but the little I know should be able to capture the essence of where I am going.

Now, a scam works by tricking people of their money and, in return, promising them goods or service which could be in the form of a prize, or something tangible that is of worth. A scammer will call a target and convince them that they have won millions of dollars in cash and prizes, but in order to claim it, they have to pay a ‘processing fee’. After they send that money to whoever, they receive nothing and never hear from that person again. How would you feel?

Today people are finding creative ways to scam people, even their own. A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi scheme organisers often solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. It is a carefully orchestrated financial scam that is completely illegal.

Having considered the whole notion of scamming and Ponzi schemes, I have been considering the question, is politics the biggest Ponzi scheme and politicians the biggest scammers? Look at it, politicians promise to do this and that and, in the end, collect big pay cheques and do nothing for the people. Look at how the Government works: It collects people’s tax money, yet they do nothing for them in return. At the end of the day the people are effectively scammed out of their hard-earned money. Which politician doesn’t own a big house or drive a decent car? Which politician know how it feels to can’t find food to eat?

On April 30, 2014, the Jamaica Observer carried the headline ‘PM promises over 21,000 jobs in 2014/15’. Did that actually come to fruition? Were 21,000 jobs issued? Is politics one big Ponzi scheme? Is it one big scam? What say you?

Kenroy Davis

kenroy.davis20@gmail.com