The Central Bank of Sri Lanka launched a nationwide consumer protection movement on Tuesday, with Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe warning that the country’s rapid shift to digital banking has placed unprecedented power, and unprecedented vulnerability, in the hands of ordinary customers.
The campaign opens Financial Consumer Protection Month 2026 under the theme “Be Scam Proof,” with the public message “Question, Verify, Act” anchoring the public-facing material.
Speaking at the launch, the Governor said digital banking had “placed the power of an entire branch into the palm of every citizen’s hand” and noted that social media platforms now expose users to a vast mix of legitimate and fraudulent financial products. The deeper drivers of fraud, he said, were the uneven flow of reliable financial information and limited awareness outside major urban centres, with “many people remain[ing] unaware of what is legal, regulated, or outright fraudulent.”
Weerasinghe pointed to two extremes the Central Bank is seeing in complaints. “We see populations who cannot distinguish licensed finance companies from illegal schemes, while at the same time highly internet-savvy individuals are clicking on fraudulent links and sharing sensitive information such as OTPs,” he said.
The Governor warned that pyramid schemes, deceptive investment offers and illegal deposit-taking operations “do not merely cause individual loss. They destroy the accumulated strength of communities and set back poverty reduction by years.” He said the asymmetric damage falls hardest on developing economies and on households with fewer resources to absorb the loss.
The CBSL campaign follows the SEC’s warning over an unlicensed Samagi Capital website earlier in the day and runs alongside ongoing Police investigations into QR code phishing schemes targeting motorists paying fake traffic fines.
