The big scam

A recent article in this publication on bigamy, and subsequent responses alluding to Jamaican men having a bounty of tricks and schemes up their sleeves, prompted an exploration of the topic of how far people have gone in the game of trickery, and how far is really too far.

Too many women, and men, can share instances where they were tricked, some never having a clue until years after. And with the scamming culture become so normalised in Jamaica, more people are seeing a little treachery as “normal”.

But when it comes close to home, it’s really no joke, as these people say.

Nicolette, 37:

When I got pregnant he proposed, and said he “always promised” himself that he’d marry the woman who had his first child. Anyway, he was a busy man, so all the wedding planning was left up to me. We were going to do it at the registry, so I went about getting all the paperwork done — visiting the various government offices, getting Justice of the Peace signatures, and waiting in long lines in several instances to get the marriage license. Well at the final jump, his old marriage records turned up. I didn’t know he had been married, there had never been any mention of her. I guess he thought that the authorities wouldn’t check our status before they issued the licence. Oh, and by the way, when he came clean about his wife, he also shared that he had two other children too, so mine wasn’t even his first.

Jeb 27:

I met this girl on campus and we hit it off. We dated right through second and third year and I saw a future with her. We spoke about having a family after we graduated, and travelling the world, etc. On weekends she’d go visit her family in the country, and always spoke fondly about her “little sister”. It was her father who let it slip one day that the little sister was really her daughter, and she was a single mom. So she was quite willing to date me and discuss a future, and ignore her whole baby while planning.

Howard, 57:

My brother’s ex-wife’s cousin drove a bread truck and would always come visit, and bring goodies for the kids. This went on for years. One day she said she was moving out, and said he was abusive. She left with the kids, and then a couple years after, we found out that she had another baby, with this cousin, who wasn’t in fact her cousin, but her man all along.

Kenisha, 24:

My sister’s babyfather, a policeman, told her he was from St Thomas — she actually visited his “family home” there. Well, when they separated and she was trying to get child support, she found out that not only was he not a cop, and not from St Thomas, but he had multiple children in most of the parishes, and actually came from a small island.

Tiffani, 35:

He’s a Gemini, for reference. He told me he was mixed, and because I’m half Indian, he could not be our child’s father, because she was too dark and her hair wasn’t “right”. He refused a DNA test, and I just decided that I would raise the child myself. Couple years later, I saw him and his siblings out with his parents, and of course, they were not an interracial couple. His mom’s the spitting image of our daughter. He just lied so he wouldn’t have to claim our daughter.