Public warning by the Central Bank on money scammers

The Central Bank on Monday issued a public warnings against money scammers saying the number of scams which has victimised members of the public has been increasing.

“In recent times, 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,” it said in a statement.

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.

Further, 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 FIU has said such confidential information should not be shared with any third party and to be vigilant of such scams. Also, providing such details will surely make the public a victim of a financial scam.

If the public receives these types of phone calls or text messages, please inform the FIU through 011-2477125 or 011-2477509.