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Colombo, Jan 01 (Daily Mirror) - An investigation into financial frauds involving foreign nationals, including Chinese individuals, has revealed that the majority of the accounts targeted in Sri Lanka were those of Chinese nationals, with only a limited number of local accounts affected by the cyberattack, the Daily Mirror learns.
Since October 2024, Sri Lankan Police have arrested over 200 Chinese nationals across various areas of the island on charges of online financial fraud. A large number of mobile phones and laptops were also seized during the raids. The arrests were made for overstaying visas and allegedly participating in online scams being conducted from Sri Lanka.
In response to the arrests, the Chinese Embassy said earlier that it is closely monitoring the situation and that the process of repatriating the arrested nationals is underway.
It was revealed that due to Sri Lanka's advantages in telecommunications infrastructure, geographical location and friendly relations with China, as well as the public lack of awareness on online fraud, some electronic fraud criminal gangs have moved to Sri Lanka and continue to engage in fraud activities targeting Chinese citizens at home and abroad.
CID Director SSP Imesha Muthumala told the Daily Mirror that investigations into the involvement of foreign nationals in online scams are ongoing and that further investigations would help determine if any other foreign nationals were also involved in these online frauds.
She said that according to the investigations, the majority of the accounts targeted by the scammers in Sri Lanka were identified as Chinese nationals.
She said that several Chinese nationals arrested recently have been granted bail after being produced in court, and several other suspects are to be charged.
In light of the surge in online financial frauds involving foreign nationals, including Chinese, the CID has sought assistance from China’s Special Criminal Investigation Unit for investigative support.
However, the progress of the investigations has been hindered as the data found on the suspects’ laptops and mobile phones is in Chinese, complicating the process for local authorities.
To overcome this challenge, the Sri Lankan Police, with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requested support from the Chinese Special Criminal Investigation Unit. In response, 10 officers from the Unit have arrived in Sri Lanka and are now working in collaboration with the Sri Lankan CID.
