Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

Let me know when you're ready,

and we'll bring Mariana.

To make money.

To make money, make money.

Fast money.

They're all Americans?

Lonely?

So you, don't you feel bad?

Jamaica, Israel,

two capitals of a multibillion-dollar industry.

Meet the voice on the other end of that unrecognized number

that won't stop calling you.

Hello?

Jamaicans, we are the best at all that we do.

This area is all the tourist area, right?

Yes.

Last year, we had over four million visitors to the island.

Montego Bay is the best tourist destination

you can find in the world.

Are you trying to sell me on tourism?

Oh, yes, you can come at any time.

Coming here as a tourist?

Oh, yes, come at any time.

Jamaica.

For most of the 1.5 million Americans who visit every year,

it mostly looks like this.

Tourists like these stay at all-inclusive resorts

like this one,

and do this,

which leads to this.

Tourism is the backbone of Jamaica's legal economy,

and the resorts of Montego Bay are the crown jewel.

But step outside the walls of your hotel,

and it's a different story.

Montego Bay is built in a sort of strange way

where you have a mix of the very rich

bordering communities with extreme poverty.

Mark Titus is a journalist and former cop.

He knows the areas of Montego Bay

that don't make it into the tourist brochures.

Welcome to Jamaica.

Day three of the state of emergency

in St. James...

Two weeks before I arrived,

the governor here declared a state of emergency.

The area surrounding Montego Bay,

the tourist paradise,

now has one of the highest per cap it a

murder rates in the world.

With an uptick in crime in St. James...

But what's causing much of this violence

isn't drugs or politics.

It's a new hustle.

What are the gangs fighting for?

Lottery scams.

You're probably familiar with some version.

You get a call saying you won a lottery

that you don't even remember entering.

You have won yourself $7.5 million

and a 2019 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Uh, that's pretty exciting.

All you need to do to collect

whatever they're promising--

Your millions, your new car, your new house--

Is to send a processing fee.

The prize is fake, of course,

but the fee you've been conned into paying

generates $300 million a year for Jamaican scammers.

We are scamming, scamming, scamming, scamming.

Scamming now rivals the drug trade

as a lucrative and violent source of revenue

for Jamaican gangs.

I wanted to understand what's referred to here as "the game,"

meet the players, see how it's played.

Word of wisdom--

Enjoy Jamaica, the best of Jamaica,

but be careful.

That mean an informer giving information must die.

Mark warned me that it would be difficult

to get people to talk about the game,

but the rise of scamming can be measured

in another popular aspect of Jamaican culture.

In a neighborhood called Steer Town, I met with this man,

local dance hall artist Xklusive.

So, what's happening here today? What are you doing?

He's the man behind "Big Money Poppin',"

the latest entry in a growing musical subgenre,

dance hall tracks that celebrate the danger, easy money,

and fast lifestyle associated with scamming culture.

What's the song about? What's the general theme of the song?

It's about money.

Money and what's going on.

Scamming is going on. Prostitution is going on.

So, I sing about it because it's going on.

Can you sing it a little bit for me?

Banga dem deh yah.

Scammer dem deh yah.

And "scammers them there" meaning scammers are...

Around, yeah, they're around.

Why did you decide to write a song about scamming?

I'd been warned that this line of questioning

might not go well.

But there's a lot of scamming in it.

I mean, the word scamming comes up a lot in the song...

No. MARIANA: No?

You know, it's a song that gets you hyped.

Big! Money! Poppin'! Huh!

I decide not to push it.

It's enough to know that the man whose breakout hit

became a scamming anthem doesn't want to talk about scamming.

But that same night,

I meet a man who says he knows someone who can help.

Which is how I wind up in a car with a man I'll just call "V."

Okay.

V knows a lot about scamming, but he's skittish as hell.

Okay, make absolutely sure we don't film his face

or anything that identifies him.

No, no, no, no, no.

As it turns out, V wants to take me

for a little history lesson of scamming in Jamaica.

This complex all around us,

these are all call centers for American companies?

It all starts here, in call centers.

Call centers were set up on the island to take advantage

of the fact that Jamaicans speak English.

My name is Andrew,

and I'm calling you from the brand services.

And receive lower wages.

This is in regards to a few customers in Pasadena.

But a few local entrepreneurs

saw another opportunity.

The lists of names and phone numbers used for telemarketing,

political donations, market research,

and debt collection can also be used for scamming.

These "lead lists," as they're called,

are the backbone of the game.

They're valuable, and here in Jamaica,

they're bought and sold underground.

So, these are some of the places

where they're getting the contact lists and the names...

After earning V's trust,

he tells me he can introduce me to someone

who has even more knowledge about scamming.

He leads me to an abandoned house,

far from the beaches and tourists.

This is how I meet Tweety.

Hi. Can I come in?

I'm Mariana.

Hi, Tweety. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Juliana? Nice nails!

I'm greeted with weed and even stronger rum.

Tweety and her friend, Juliana, not their real names,

agree to talk to me about the game.

So what would happen if they found out who you were,

that you were doing this?

By day, Tweety works

at one of the many resorts on the island.

She wouldn't tell us which one,

but says she makes in a month

what tourists pay for a one-night stay.

So what is it that you do on the side, then?

As it turns out, the hospitality industry

is great preparation for scamming.

All day long, Tweety is interacting

with mostly American clients.

Then, after hours, in her free time,

Tweety opens up her lead list.

Names, numbers, and addresses in the United States? America?

Big money popping?

No disrespect taken.

Tweety doesn't want to show me her lead lists.

They're closely guarded here in Jamaica.

But after a little more rum and smoke,

she and her friend Juliana loosen up and show me her rap.

You're really good with the accent.

You're probably thinking, how does anyone fall for this?

But there's a definite profile of a victim

that Tweety has identified.

Are they all older people?

To send you the money?

Brash, unrepentant, cold--

That's how Tweety sounds

when talking about stealing from lonely old people.

But her posture quickly changes