Section 3(3) of the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act provides that the person defrauded may be within or outside Jamaica at the time of the offence. Section 17 then provides that the Court shall order restitution to the victim, enforceable in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.
Jamaica legislated separately for one category of fraud, and its preamble names the category: it is an Act to make new provisions for offences relating to lottery scams, advance fee fraud and other fraudulent transactions. Section 3(3) provides that the person defrauded may have been within or outside Jamaica at the time of the offence, and section 17 then directs the Court to order restitution to that person.
Key Takeaways
- Section 3(3) states that the references to any other person are references to that person, whether that person is at the time of the commission of the offence within or outside Jamaica.
- Section 10 makes it an offence to obtain, possess, transmit, distribute or sell another person's identity information in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference of fraudulent intent, with a maximum of a fine or imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years, or both, on each limb.
- Section 6(1)(b) reaches money moved to a place in Jamaica from or through a place outside Jamaica, where it is known or reasonably believed to be the proceeds of unlawful activity.
- Section 17 provides that the Court shall order restitution to the victim, that the amount for money includes interest income which may otherwise have accrued, and that the order is enforceable in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.
What does Jamaica's fraudulent transactions Act cover?
One named category of fraud, named in the statute's own preamble.
The Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act became operational on 28 March 2013. Its preamble describes it as an Act to make new provisions for offences relating to lottery scams, advance fee fraud and other fraudulent transactions.
The Act has been amended. The Ministry of Justice statute record gives the last amendment as 7 April 2014, so the governing text is the consolidated print in the Revised Laws of Jamaica. That consolidation is authorised page by page: Part II, containing sections 3 to 6, by L.N. 192A/2017, and the arrangement of sections and the Schedule by L.N. 128/2016.
Penalties sit in a Schedule given effect by section 13, and every one is a maximum on conviction in a Circuit Court. The Schedule fixes years and does not fix amounts: each row reads as a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding a stated number of years, or both. The only monetary figure in the Act is in section 18(2), which caps penalties imposed by regulations at three million dollars or three years.
How does a Jamaican offence reach a victim in Australia?
Through subsection 3(3), which takes the victim's location out of the offence.
Section 3(1) and section 3(2) create the core offences: obtaining property from another person by a false pretence, and inducing another person to confer a benefit by a false pretence. Both are framed around "any other person".
Subsection (3) then defines that phrase in one sentence: "The references in subsections (1) and (2) to any other person are references to such other person, whether that person is at the time of the commission of the offence within or outside Jamaica."
That sentence is the reason the Act bears on a person in Australia who has never been to Jamaica. Where the deception is worked from Jamaica, the offence under section 3 is complete without the person deceived ever having entered the country.
Section 4 points the other way. It makes it an offence to invite a person to visit Jamaica by a false pretence, for a purpose connected with an offence under the Act, and it carries a maximum of a fine or imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, or both.
Which offences attach to a person's identity details?
Section 10, in two limbs, each carrying fifteen years.
Section 10(1) makes it an offence to obtain or possess another person's identity information in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that the information is intended to be used in the commission of an offence under the Act. Section 10(2) covers the handling of that information: transmitting it, making it available, distributing it, selling it, offering it for sale, or possessing it for any of those purposes.
The two limbs stand separately in the Schedule, each at a fine or imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years, or both.
The list in section 10(3) is entirely ordinary. It reaches a name, an address, a date of birth, an email address, a telephone number and an account number. None of those is secret, and most appear on any document that accompanies a payment. The offence is built on the circumstances in which the information is held rather than on the rarity of the information.
| Offence | Section | Maximum on conviction in a Circuit Court |
|---|---|---|
| Obtaining property by a false pretence | 3 | 20 years |
| Transporting money or a monetary instrument | 6(1) | 20 years |
| Access-device offences | 8 | 15 years |
| Obtaining or possessing identity information | 10(1) | 15 years |
| Transmitting, distributing, selling or possessing another's identity information | 10(2) | 15 years |
Each row reads "fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding" the stated period, or both.
What does the Act say about money moved into Jamaica?
Section 6 covers it in four directions, and one of them is inbound.
Section 6(1) makes it an offence to use an access device or other means to transfer or transport money or a monetary instrument where the person knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, that it represents the proceeds of unlawful activity. The subsection lists four directions the movement may take, and paragraph (b) is "to a place in Jamaica from or through a place outside Jamaica".
Section 6(2) defines what is being moved. A monetary instrument expressly includes the currency of a State other than Jamaica, travellers' cheques, personal cheques, bank cheques and money orders, so a sum denominated in another country's currency is inside the definition on its face.
The element that does the work in section 6 is knowledge rather than route. The offence turns on what the person moving the money knew or had reasonable grounds to believe about its origin, rather than on how the money travelled, which is what separates it from an ordinary remittance.
What a Jamaican court is directed to order
Restitution. Section 17 uses the word "shall".
Section 17(1)(a) provides that the Court shall order a person convicted of an offence under the Act to make restitution to the victim. Where the property is money, the amount is one equivalent to the loss, and the subsection states that the amount "shall include any interest income which may otherwise have accrued for the period during which the person was deprived of his property". The measure is the loss plus the return the money did not earn.
Section 17(2) settles what the order is worth once it exists. It is enforceable by the victim, or by the prosecution on the victim's behalf, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action. Section 17(3) and section 17(4) address the case where the victim has died: the restitution passes to the personal representative, which the Act defines as the executor, the administrator or the heir.
Read against section 3(3), the chain closes. Nothing in section 17 reintroduces the victim's location: the provision speaks of the victim, without qualification. A person in Australia who was never in Jamaica occupies the same position in section 17 as a person who was standing in Kingston. That is a statement about what a Jamaican court is directed to order in Jamaican proceedings, and the Act says nothing about how such an order is treated anywhere else.
How is the Act being enforced?
Through a dedicated police unit, and through charges that name the Act's identity and access-device offences.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force runs an Anti-Lottery Scam Unit, and its published operational campaign carries the name "Scam Dun, Justice a Run". The charge names it reports laying include possession of identity information with intent and possession of access devices, which are the section 10 and section 8 offences, alongside unlawful possession of property and conspiracy.
Two operational windows have been published with figures attached.
| Window | Activity reported |
|---|---|
| 5 June to 12 July 2025 | 91 raids, 24 people charged, 20 vehicles seized |
| 10 December 2025 to 10 April 2026 | 27 people arrested, 11 charged, 13 vehicles seized |
Those numbers are arrests and charges. No Jamaican body publishes a count of convictions under the Act, and section 17 restitution follows conviction, so the enforcement figures and the restitution provision are not two ends of one published series. The raids and seizures reach material and equipment at premises inside Jamaica, and the charges reach the people found with them, under a statute whose section 3(3) was written for the people who are not there.
Where to look next
How international transfers work sets out the ordinary sequence a cross-border payment moves through. What a payment rail is made of takes those mechanics apart. For the live figures, see the Australian dollar to Jamaican dollar page or the convert page.
Sources
- Ministry of Justice, Jamaica, statute record - the short title, the operational date of 28 March 2013 and the last amendment date of 7 April 2014.
- The Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act, consolidated print, Revised Laws of Jamaica - Part II containing sections 3 to 6 authorised by L.N. 192A/2017, the arrangement of sections and the Schedule by L.N. 128/2016. The preamble; sections 3(1) to 3(3); section 4; sections 6(1)(b) and 6(2); sections 10(1) to 10(3); section 13 giving effect to the Schedule; section 17 on restitution, interest income, enforcement as a civil judgment and the personal representative; and section 18(2). The Schedule sets no fine ceiling, each row reading as a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding the stated number of years, or both, on conviction in a Circuit Court.
- Jamaica Constabulary Force, "Scam Dun, Justice a Run" yields significant results - the window of 5 June to 12 July 2025, with 91 raids, 24 people charged and 20 vehicles seized.
- Jamaica Constabulary Force, Anti-Lottery Scam Unit highlights the operation - the window of 10 December 2025 to 10 April 2026, with 27 people arrested, 11 charged and 13 vehicles seized, and the charge names of possession of identity information with intent and possession of access devices. The figures are arrests and charges.
General information about sending money to Jamaica and about the Jamaican statute described here. Not financial advice, not legal advice, and not a recommendation of any product or institution. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.
Common questions
Does Jamaican law apply where the person defrauded was never in Jamaica?
Section 3(3) of the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act addresses that directly. It provides that the references in subsections (1) and (2) to any other person are references to such other person, whether that person is at the time of the commission of the offence within or outside Jamaica. The location of the person defrauded is therefore not an element of the offences in section 3.
What does the Jamaican Act say about restitution to a victim?
Section 17(1)(a) provides that the Court shall order a person convicted of an offence under the Act to make restitution to the victim. Where the property is money, the amount is one equivalent to the loss, and the Act states that the amount shall include any interest income which may otherwise have accrued for the period during which the person was deprived of the property. Section 17(2) provides that the order is enforceable by the victim, or by the prosecution on the victim's behalf, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.
What counts as identity information under the Jamaican Act?
Section 10(3) sets out a list of ordinary details, including a name, an address, a date of birth, an email address, a telephone number and an account number. Section 10(1) makes it an offence to obtain or possess another person's identity information in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference of fraudulent intent, and section 10(2) covers transmitting, making available, distributing, selling, offering for sale or possessing it. The Schedule sets a maximum of a fine or imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years, or both, on each limb, on conviction in a Circuit Court.
Does the Act cover money moved into Jamaica from outside?
Section 6(1) covers the use of an access device or other means to transfer or transport money or a monetary instrument where the person knows or has reasonable grounds to believe it is the proceeds of unlawful activity, across four directions. One of them, in paragraph (b), is to a place in Jamaica from or through a place outside Jamaica. Section 6(2) provides that a monetary instrument expressly includes the currency of a State other than Jamaica, travellers' cheques, personal and bank cheques and money orders.
What fines does the Jamaican Act set for these offences?
The Schedule sets no fine ceiling. Each row reads as a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding a stated number of years, or both, on conviction in a Circuit Court, and it fixes the years without fixing an amount. The only monetary figure in the Act is in section 18(2), which caps penalties imposed by regulations at a fine of three million dollars or three years, and that provision governs regulations rather than the offences in the body of the Act.