western bureau

A 'mother' (obeah woman), who operates out of a community on the outskirts of Montego Bay, is said to be reaping a rich financial windfall from fearful lotto scammers. She sells her 'bush bath' services to protect them from 'white obeah', which they believe their victims are using against them.

"All a dem (scammers) a get dem bush bath," said a source familiar with the situation. "Dem seh di bath will keep off the jinx that the white people dem are putting on them."

mysterious experiences

Since late last year, several lotto scammers in and around Montego Bay have been running scared after seeing some of their colleagues in the illicit scheme, which has left some communities awash with fear, falling prey to bizarre and sometimes mysterious experiences.

Late last year, the man, whom the police had labelled as one of the masterminds behind the scams, was shot and killed under still-unexplained circumstances.

In addition, a number of prominent players in the scam, through which American citizens are conned in to sending them money under the guise that they sending fees to process a lottery they were fooled into believing they had won, have been involved in traffic accidents or have had run-ins with the law.

a black cat

"Just the other day, a scammer parked his car on the Hip Strip and it just burst into flames behind him as he stood on the sidewalk talking to friends," a source told The Star. "In another case, a black cat was seen immediately after a car, driven by a scammer, had gone past Sam Sharpe Square."

One source told The Star that since the scammers had been going to the mother, who is also said to be very popular with gunmen seeking witchcraft-style 'protection', misadventure among them had declined significantly.

"Even the doubting Thomases are now going out to get their bath just to be on the safe side," said the source. "A can tell you that mother is making crazy dollars - all US - off them."

According to the source, each bath costs approximately $25,000 but some of the scammers, who want to feel special with mother, sometimes toss in a few extra thousand-dollar notes or in some cases, a wad of US dollars.

The Star understands that various plants are boiled together to create the bath water, which, our source says, is then poured into a large bathpan. The bathing reportedly takes place in an outside kitchen in the mother's yard.

bush bath

"You can see young men, driving all kind of expensive cars, pulling up at her gate at all hours of the day to get their bath," said the source. "Neighbours who sometimes peep into the kitchen say the scammers are relieved of all their clothes for the bath."

The scammers are reportedly required to follow specific instructions given by the mother for the bush bath to work in terms of offering the protection they seek.

"Me understand seh dat they have to put on their clothes on their wet skin," said the source. "In addition, they have to keep on the same clothes for three days and cannot take a bath until the end of the three days."