On a Sunday morning, an 81-year-old husband and father pulled a trigger to his head. He passed away believing that $2 million will be arriving at his home's doorsteps, enough to take care of his family.
In the last months, Albert Poland Jr. had been waiting for the jackpot prize – in a lottery he never joined.
In March, Poland received the good news. He won millions of dollars in prize money. He can now pay his 52-year-old son's mortgage.
He only needs to do one thing. The IRS needed $1,500 in taxes. The caller had already noted his address. Upon receiving the amount, the caller will be sending Poland's millions.
Poland withdrew the maximum $400 from his ATM and sent it via Western Union.
The caller called again. He needed another $1,500. Poland sent money again, and the caller called again, and again.
The man from Jamaica called a few times a day, sometimes more than 40. Poland had sent over $5,000.
Once, Poland called the police to block phone scam calls coming from the 876 area code, but after that he went to the post office to send money to the caller. The teller talked to him and handed him a brochure on Jamaican lottery scams. He thanked her.
Many times, Poland's wife Virginia and their son tried to talk to him. He said, "I'm in too deep."
Poland, lovingly called Daddy by people close to him was suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. The man behind the phone preyed upon his condition.
"The jackpot would arrive at the family home – a camera crew ready to capture the excitement," the man promised.
Poland is just one of the many senior citizens with illnesses who fall victim to the cruel Jamaican lottery scammers.
Nearly 300,000 Americans a year, most of them elderly, are preyed upon by the callers who receive an estimated $300 million annually.
In Jamaica, more than 200 deaths a year have been tied to the scams.
