Selling the list: seven million elderly Americans, sold to lottery scammers
In June 2025 the Justice Department's Consumer Protection Branch charged Troy Murray, also known as "Steve Dixson", with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for selling a lead-list database containing the names and personal information of over seven million elderly American consumers to lottery fraud scammers, including Jamaican operators. He pleaded guilty in January 2026 and in late May 2026 was sentenced to 121 months in prison and ordered to forfeit about $5.2 million. His son Cutter Murray was announced in June 2025 as agreeing to plead guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and laundering $1.6 million of the proceeds; no later outcome for him was found.
- Year
- 2026
- Where
- United States, Jamaica
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $1.6 million
- Victims
- 7,000,000
- Schemes
- Prize, lottery and sweepstakes scams, Advance fee and 419 scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
The facts, as recorded
- An Information charging Troy Murray was filed 11 June 2025 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, together with his agreement to plead guilty.
- The charge is conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- He is alleged to have sold a lead list database containing names and personal information of over seven million elderly American consumers.
- Buyers included lottery fraud scammers, among them Jamaican operators, who used the lists to defraud those consumers.
- Cutter Murray, his son, agreed to plead guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and laundering $1.6 million of the proceeds.
- Several purchases made with the proceeds were in excess of $10,000.
- Separately, Dennis Anderson and Frank Angelori were charged on 9 June 2025 as lead list brokers who from as early as 2015 until at least March 2020 knowingly sold lists of mostly older Americans to Jamaican clients running lottery fraud.
- Investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service.
- Troy Murray pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- He was sentenced in late May 2026 (reported 29 May 2026) to 121 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $5,214,688.48.
- Court documents described by the Justice Department say that between 2016 and 2023 he sent at least 22,000 lead lists, typically charging $500 per list of 100 to 300 names, earning over $5.2 million; victim losses exceeded $9.5 million.
- After money transfer services blocked him he asked buyers to pay in prepaid gift cards; his pseudonym was reportedly referenced in a 2022 song by a Jamaican artist.
Troy Murray has pleaded guilty and been sentenced; see the caveat below for what is and is not proven about the other people named. Charges against anyone not yet convicted are allegations, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Why this case matters
This is the part of the industry nobody photographs: the supplier.
Seven million names. Not stolen in a breach, compiled, maintained and sold, as a product, to people who were going to use it to defraud the people on it. The allegation is not that a list leaked; it is that lists of elderly Americans were a knowing business, with brokers, repeat customers and a wholesale market.
Two separate sets of charges announced within two days make the same point. Anderson and Angelori are alleged to have been business partners selling lists to Jamaican lottery-fraud clients from as early as 2015 until at least March 2020, a five-year commercial relationship.
What a lead list actually is
A structured file: name, age, address, phone number, and frequently a marker indicating that the person has responded to a sweepstakes offer before. That last field is the valuable one, because it is the difference between a cold call and a warm one.
This is why victims are so often hit repeatedly by different scams. Responding once does not just cost money; it moves you onto a list that gets resold. The “sucker list” is a real commercial artefact, which is also why a recovery scam so reliably follows a first loss.
What it tells you about the scheme
Prosecuting the callers alone changes very little; they are replaceable and usually outside the jurisdiction. Prosecuting the supply chain is different: without lists, the whole model reverts to random dialling, which is dramatically less efficient.
It also reframes the advice. “Don’t answer unknown numbers” misses the point. Once you are on a list, you will be called again by people who are not connected to whoever called you first. The practical step is to reduce what enters the market at all, declining marketing consent, being sparing with prize entries and surveys, and treating any organisation that asks for a date of birth and a phone number as a potential future seller.
The caveat
Proven: Troy Murray pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in January 2026 and was sentenced in late May 2026 to 121 months in prison and a forfeiture of about $5.2 million. The scale figures (22,000 lists, $9.5 million in victim losses) come from the prosecution’s description of the court documents. Not shown in the sources reviewed: any plea or sentence for Cutter Murray, who was announced in June 2025 as agreeing to plead guilty to money laundering, or any outcome for Dennis Anderson and Frank Angelori, who were charged on 9 June 2025. Each is presumed innocent of anything not yet proven in court. As of 10 October 2026 no later outcome for them was found in the sources reviewed.
Sources
- Justice Department Highlights Enforcement Efforts Protecting Older Americans from Transnational Fraud Schemes in Recognition of 2025 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: All charges, dates, districts, the seven-million-record list, the $1.6 million laundering figure, and the Anderson and Angelori charges.
- American sentenced to 10 years for selling elderly data to Jamaican scammers. Jamaica Observer. Accessed 2026-10-10. Supports: The January 2026 guilty plea, the 121-month sentence, three years' supervised release, the $5,214,688.48 forfeiture, the 2016 to 2023 period, 22,000 lists, $5.2 million proceeds and $9.5 million victim losses.
- Man sent to prison for selling data of 7 millions elderly Americans. BleepingComputer. Accessed 2026-10-10. Supports: The sentence, the January 2026 plea to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and that the June 2025 announcement said Cutter Murray would plead guilty to money laundering.