Police have arrested 231 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese and Vietnamese, following raids on suspected cyberscam centres in the capital since the weekend, officials said.
Crime groups internationally have carried out online cons, defrauding victims of tens of billions of dollars annually, often through cryptocurrency scams and phony romantic relationships.
In Sri Lanka, authorities cracked down on two suspected cybserscam centres on Sunday, arresting a total of 157 people.
An additional 74 people were arrested on Wednesday at a third location.
“They had entered the country on tourist visas and were illegally employed, while some had overstayed their visas,” a police spokesman said yesterday.
The arrests came a month after 152 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were detained for allegedly running a cyberscam operation out of a hotel in the island’s northwest.
Beijing’s embassy in Colombo said at the time that it was working closely with local authorities to prevent Chinese nationals from engaging in scam operations in Sri Lanka.
The embassy said Sri Lanka’s telecommunications infrastructure, favourable geographical location and relatively lenient visa policies had encouraged gangs to move to there. — AFP
