A 46-year-old woman has been arrested at Katunayake airport over an alleged fraud in which Rs 1,455,000 was transferred into her account after a WhatsApp group promised the delivery of a valuable gift parcel.
The Computer Crime Investigation Division’s North Western Province unit opened the investigation after receiving a complaint, according to Hiru News. Investigators allege the money was credited to the suspect’s account on the strength of the gift-parcel claim.
The suspect was taken into custody on Friday (30) at the passenger terminal of Katunayake airport. She is a resident of Nugegoda.
The CCID’s North Western Province unit is continuing its inquiries.
The pattern
The mechanics described here — an unsolicited approach through a messaging platform, a promised parcel of high value, and a transfer of funds by the victim — match a fraud type Sri Lankan authorities have warned about repeatedly.
This desk has previously reported Sri Lanka CERT warnings about WhatsApp and Telegram accounts impersonating police officers and a SriLankan Airlines warning over a WhatsApp scam using its branding. The common element across these cases is that the approach arrives through a messaging app rather than a channel the recipient can verify.
The point of arrest is itself notable: an airport passenger terminal, which indicates the suspect was detained in connection with travel rather than at a residence or workplace.
Not reported
The filing does not say whether the suspect was attempting to leave or enter the country, nor whether she had been the subject of a travel alert. It does not state how many complainants are involved or whether the Rs 1,455,000 came from a single victim, and gives no date for the original complaint or for the transfers.
No court appearance is reported, and the filing does not state what charges are contemplated. It does not say whether other suspects are being sought, or whether any of the money has been recovered. Police have not named the suspect.
Single-source. This arrest was reported by Hiru News at 6:24 a.m. Colombo time on 31 October. At the time of writing no other verified newsroom had carried it: the Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing held no matching item, NewsFirst’s homepage returned no corresponding article, EconomyNext was returning a server error, and Ada Derana remains HTTP 403-blocked to this desk.
A note on imagery. The image offered with the source filing was an AI-generated composite staging a reconstruction of the arrest, carrying the publisher’s own “Ai generated image” label. This desk does not publish synthetic depictions of real, identifiable people in custody, and a category placeholder has been used instead.
