Sri Lanka emerges as target for international “scam camp”

 Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa

Police Spokesman Deputy Inspector General (IGP) Nihal Thalduwa yesterday revealed that Sri Lanka has emerged as a new target for international criminal networks operating large-scale “scam camps”.

This alarming trend he said surfaced this year, following a series of high-profile raids, exposing the growing presence of these criminal operations.

Thalduwa warned that these scams could pose a serious threat to the country’s banking system, whilst assuring swift investigations into the cases found.

“We cannot confirm yet, if these criminals have managed to crackdown into our banking system but have carried out financial scams to other countries from Sri Lanka,” he told journalists at the post-Cabinet meeting press briefing yesterday.

A recent crackdown in Kandy, Panadura and Athurugiriya led to the arrest of nearly 200 foreign nationals, where majority were Chinese citizens. 

“These scam camps are typically operated from small hotels, villas, houses. The recent arrest in Kandy saw that these criminals have booked 47 rooms of the total 72 room hotel to operate the ‘scam camp’. They do not go out to explore. These individuals are staying inside the hotel where all facilities such as food, swimming pool are available,” he said, adding that most of these foreigners have come to Sri Lanka through tourist visas.

The Police Spokesman stressed the importance of vigilance, especially for property owners renting out to foreigners. “We suggest that property owners include a specific clause in their lease agreements on inspecting premises regularly, to ensure that they are not unknowingly facilitating criminal activities,” he stressed.

He said during the raids conducted last week, around 500 mobile phones and 250 computers were seized.

Thalduwa said the investigations have observed that these criminals have chosen countries such as Sri Lanka and other South Asian and South East Asian countries like Myanmar because the renting out facilities are less stringent and people in these regions are more likely to fall prey to financial scams.