NORTH CAROLINA, United States (CMC) — A North Carolina man has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison after being convicted of running a seven-year scheme in which he victimised millions of elderly Americans by selling their personal information to Jamaican lottery fraud scammers.

Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said Troy Murray, 57, will also serve three years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit US$5,214,688.48.

In January this year, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to court documents, Murray orchestrated a scheme in which he organised, maintained and sold lists containing the names, phone numbers, physical addresses, and in some cases ages and email addresses of elderly Americans to individuals in Jamaica involved in lottery fraud operations.

Between 2016 and 2023, he sold these lists to Jamaican scammers who used the information to target elderly victims in lottery fraud schemes, earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Prosecutors described Murray as a prolific and well-known lead list broker for Jamaican fraudsters. Scammers would typically contact him via call, email or text, requesting lists of names. He would then set a price per list, usually around US$500 for 100 to 300 names.

Initially, Murray instructed scammers to provide payment via wire transfer but after multiple money transfer services blocked his transactions, he instructed scammers to instead pay using prepaid gift cards.

His operation became so widely known in Jamaica that his alias, “Steve Dixon”, was reportedly referenced in the lyrics of a 2022 song by a Jamaican artiste.

After receiving payments, Murray used the proceeds to purchase farm equipment, vehicles and collectable items such as bars and coins made of precious metals. He also transferred portions of the funds to one of his sons for personal expenses and business use.

During the scheme, Murray sent at least 22,000 lead lists containing the personal information of more than seven million elderly Americans to scammers, generating over US$5.2 million in profits. Victim losses were estimated to exceed US$9.5 million.