Retired judge among victims of expanding int’l online fraud scheme

24 November 2025 10:25 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 4 Bookmark

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By Indika Sri Aravinda

Colombo, Nov. 24 (Daily Mirror) - A retired Sri Lankan judge has become one of the latest victims of an international online fraud ring that has been operating for more than two years, officials confirmed.

The criminals had infiltrated her bank account and defrauded her of nearly Rs. 400,000 by posing as the Sri Lanka Postal Department and inducing her to make an online payment for a purported parcel.

According to investigations, the fraudsters send SMS alerts claiming that a package has arrived through the Postal Department and requesting the recipient to pay a small fee—usually less than Rs. 100—through an online payment link. Once the victim enters their bank details, the scammers gain unauthorized access to the account and convert the stolen money into foreign currency.

The victim, a former judge, has lodged a complaint with the Maradana Post Office.

Postmaster General Ruwan Sathkumara said the organized group behind the scam has been active for over two years, but their identities remain unknown.

Deputy Director of the Postal Department’s Technical Division, Chamli Vijithapala, warned that the scheme is expanding rapidly and often uses the names of well-known local brands to deceive victims. She added that multiple complaints have been received, involving losses in high-value foreign currencies such as US dollars, Australian dollars, Singapore dollars, Swiss francs and British pounds.

The fraudsters have also created fake websites resembling the official Postal Department page and use OTP codes to carry out unauthorized transactions.

The Central Bank’s Investigation Unit, Sri Lanka CERT, and the CID’s Computer Crimes Division have all been notified.

The Postal Department stressed that it does not support any online payments through credit or debit cards and urged the public not to make any such transactions claiming to be linked to postal services.

Ms. Vijithapala reiterated that authorities have not yet been able to determine whether the scam is conducted by a single individual or an organized international group.

Comments - 4

Satya Sakya Monday, 24 November 2025 10:55 AM

People in this country—whether well-educated, moderately educated, or even illiterate—often tend to have a greedy mindset and seek to accumulate wealth through the easiest possible means. Because of this uncontrollable greed, many become highly gullible and easily fall for scams that promise quick riches with little or no effort. This is neither the first nor the last time we will hear about such fraudsters. After observing the gullibility of those eager to get rich, scammers design attractive schemes that promise instant wealth. Once they manage to secure the initial investments, they simply disappear with the funds. Some of the most notorious local scammers have been unauthorized finance companies, pyramid schemes etc offering unbelievable returns, successfully luring in greedy investors.

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Sharmi Monday, 24 November 2025 02:33 PM

The Ceylico Golden Key scandal in 2008 where thousands of depositors lost approx. 26.5 billion rupees comes to mind. Some of the depositors committed suicide. Human greed knows no bounds.

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Cassie Monday, 24 November 2025 02:53 PM

No matter how much people are told not to respond to unusual texts, emails or calls they would still not heed the warning. If you get a text anywhere asking to pay money by clicking a link, just delete it and block the number.

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Suhada malli Monday, 24 November 2025 04:47 PM

It's safer to have a digital txn account as a separate account to the usual savings or current account and operate that with a very small bank balance. So even if it gets hacked you only lose very little.

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