Victims duped of cash in Cay-Jam hotel job scam

(CNS): A joint investigation between the Caymanian and Jamaican police into a financial scam, which cons job applicants out of false work permit fees of CI$400, is currently underway and the RCIPS Financial Crime Unit is warning people here to be on alert for the con. Several hundred people in Jamaica have applied to fraudulent job ads for positions at a hotel here that does not exist. The victims have handed over cash for permits, which the scammers are trying to route through the accounts of scam victims in Cayman.

Police say they are investigating an individual associated with this scam named Odiki Mandalay, or Carlos Chung among other names, who purports to be the owner of the Hotel Grand Cayman, which does not exist. The scam is based in Jamaica, where the con artists are also tricking Cayman residents into using their bank accounts to transfer the fraudulently obtained cash.

“All Cayman residents should beware of requests from individuals with whom they have become acquainted online to collect funds into their accounts and then transfer said funds to Jamaica,” the financial cops warned. Detectives said they had learned that people in Jamaica have been responding to job announcements on social media for the false vacancies at the non-existent Cayman Islands hotel.

After completing what they believed was an interview process, the would-be applicants are asked to send CI$400 to the Cayman Islands to pay for a work permit. The scammers then con residents they have befriended here through social networking sites, such as Facebook, Tagged, Tango and Badoo, into using their bank accounts or remittance services to facilitate the fraudulent work permit transactions. Police said they have already confirmed at least one person in Cayman who has been manipulated into receiving the stolen funds and then returned the money to individuals in Jamaica.

“The RCIPS is imploring social network users not to engage in conversations with or engage in transactions on behalf of persons whom they have never met or whose identity they cannot vouch for,” the officers on the case said.

Anyone who has been solicited to use their accounts to transfer money, or who has any information, is encouraged to call the RCIPS FCU at 649-8797 or email RCIPS.FCU@gov.ky.

Anonymous tips can be provided via the Miami-based call centre of CrimeStoppers at 800-8477(TIPS), or online here