A North Carolina man was sentenced earlier this week to 121 months in prison and three years of supervised release for running a seven-year scheme where he victimized millions of elderly Americans by selling their personal information to Jamaican lottery fraud scammers.
He was also ordered to pay a forfeiture in the amount of $5,214,688.48.
Court documents say that Troy Murray, 57, of Hickory, North Carolina, devised a scheme where he organized, maintained, and sold lists containing the names, phone numbers, physical addresses, and, in some cases, ages and email addresses, of elderly Americans to individuals in Jamaica involved in lottery fraud schemes.
From 2016 to 2023, Murray sold these lists to Jamaican scammers, who perpetrated lottery fraud on elderly American consumers, earning Murray hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
Murray was a prolific and well-known lead list broker for Jamaican scammers. To complete the transactions, scammers would typically call, email, or text Murray for a list of names. Murray then provided a price per list, typically $500, for 100 to 300 names.
Initially, Murray instructed scammers to provide payment via wire transfer; however, after multiple monetary wire transmission services blocked him from using their services, he instructed scammers to send him pre-paid gift cards to pay for the lists instead. Murray’s list broker service was so well known in Jamaica that his pseudonym, “Steve Dixon,” was referenced by a Jamaican musical artist in a 2022 song lyric.
Today, a North Carolina man was sentenced to prison for running a seven-year scheme where he victimized millions of elderly Americans by selling their personal information to Jamaican lottery fraud scammers.
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) May 28, 2026
Read more: https://t.co/nEjqY572Kt pic.twitter.com/GQJHLdpgAa
After receiving payment from the Jamaican scammers, Murray used the funds to purchase farm equipment, vehicles, and collectibles like bars and coins made of precious metals. Murray also sent money he made from the scheme to one of his sons to purchase personal property and pay for his business and living expenses.
During the scheme, Murray sent at least 22,000 lead lists to scammers. These lists contained the names and personal information of over seven million elderly Americans and garnered Murray over $5.2 million. Victim losses exceeded $9.5 million.
Man sent to prison for selling data of 7 millions elderly Americans https://t.co/j7rZlK3yQZ #Security
— The Cyber Security Hub™ (@TheCyberSecHub) May 29, 2026
In January 2026, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel David Sullivan and Trial Attorney Ryan Norman of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.
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