The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has urged public not to deposit money into bank accounts of unknown parties or remit money through other means without proper verification, in light of a recent increase in complaints regarding various scams.

In a press release, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the CBSL has mentioned that a rapid increase in the number of complaints filed by aggrieved parties has been observed in relation to defrauding money from individuals by giving false information through fraudulent phone calls, text messages, e-mail messages and social media networks, promising to direct them to foreign employment or asking them to pay customs duties to receive parcels containing various valuable goods. 

“Therefore, the public are informed 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 FIU emphasized.

Further, the scammers who engage in such practices, may request 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, in order to proceed with such transactions, it added.

Accordingly, the FIU further notices 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”, the FIU warned.

The CBSL requests to provide any details of these types of phone calls or text messages through the contact numbers 011-2477125 or 011-2477509.