News
Cops come calling on imitators ripping off cash
Fraudsters relieving unsuspecting people of their cash parading themselves as police officers investigating last year’s Easter Sunday terrorist attacks on churches are being hunted down by law enforcement authorities.
Unidentified callers have been demanding that people make cash transfers to help clear them from investigations, the police say.
In one incident in Kotahena in early March, a victim had been told to pay up Rs 50,000 as easy cash payments. The victim was ordered to pay in instalments of Rs 10,000.
The police said details were reported to the Hulftsdorp Magistrates’ Courts and an order had been obtained to collect phone call data from two telcos providing mobile services.
The police media spokesman, SP Jaliya Senaratne, told the Sunday Times that the scam had been reported from Wattala, Kiribathgoda, Kotahena, Nugegoda, and Thalangama, since February.
Most incidents had been reported from Thalangama area.
He said that some victims had reported to the police instead of paying up.
SP Senaratne said the police and the Defence Ministry are carrying out two separate investigations.
“The culprits are impersonating police officers, threatening people and engaging in fraudulent activities. The police do not notify people before they make an arrest and never ask for money to carry out investigations. People should inform the nearest police station if they receive such calls,” he said.
The Sunday Times learned that most of the complainants have told the police that further investigations are not required. But scams continue.
A senior police investigator said that most fraudsters buy mobile sim cards using identity cards of dead people. He said the police can track down the suspects.
Police in the areas where the scammers have struck are investigating, but there are delays because the police are involved in curfew work. The courts had also not been functioning for long.
The Officer in Charge of the Wattala Police, Chief Inspector (C.I ) L Silogama said two complaints in Wattala area are being investigated.
“Wattala Police are analysing call data,’’ he said.
CI Silogama, said that although the Welisara Magistrates’ Courts resumed this week, the legal process might take a couple of weeks. “We advise the public to make complaints if scammers continue making calls posing as police,’’ he said.
The officer in charge of Kaleniya Divisional Crime Investigation Unit, C.I Linton Lenard de Silva said one suspect is being tracked.
He said inquiries are hampered because most mobile service providers had been closed.
The Defence Ministry advised the public to be vigilant about mobile digital wallets and has asked victims to alert the police, or contact 119 if they have been contacted.
The Defence Secretary, Major General (retired) Kamal Gunaratne, had been alerted by the police about the incidents during a meeting at the ministry.
Some people had been forced to pay between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000 through mobile cash transfers.
Maj Gen Gunaratne also instructed the police to investigate scammers operating from prison cells demanding ransoms from family members of suspects in remand prison by impersonating the police.