The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has warned the public to be vigilant of individuals financially defrauding through scam calls, text messages, email messages and social media networks.
Issuing a statement, the CBSL said that in recent times, a rapid increase has been observed in the number of complaints filed by aggrieved parties in relation to defrauding money from individuals by giving false information through fraudulent phone calls, text messages, e-mail messages and social media networks.
The suspects have promised the victims of directing them to foreign employment or asking them to pay customs duties to receive parcels containing various valuable goods.
Therefore, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has urged the public not to deposit money into the bank accounts of unknown parties or remit money through other means based on the above information, without proper verification.
The CBSL further informed that the scammers who engage in such practices may request the following information from the public in order to proceed with such transactions:
- Personal Identification Number (PIN);
- Card Verification Values (CVV) used to authenticate payment cards as stated on the back of the cards;
- One-Time Passwords (OTP) used to authenticate transactions;
- User IDs, Passwords and OTPs used in mobile banking/internet banking.
The CBSL warned the public that such confidential information should not be shared with any third party and to be vigilant of such scams.
“Providing such details will surely make you/your family member/your close friend, a victim of a financial scam,” it further stated.
In the event of receiving these types of phone calls or text messages, the public has been requested to inform the CBSL’s Financial Intelligence Unit via 011-2477125 or 011-2477509. (NewsWire)