HNB, a major Sri Lankan bank, says scammers are copying trusted names and logos to trick people into handing over private banking details.
A Sri Lankan bank is warning that scammers are borrowing the names of banks and other well-known organizations to fool people. HNB PLC, which describes itself as the country's leading private sector bank, says it has seen a rise in these impersonation scams. The goal is to get you to share personal or financial information.
The bank says fraudsters copy familiar names, logos and looks. They use them on social media pages, websites, ads, job notices, phone calls and messaging apps. Many messages push you to act fast or dangle a prize, so you respond before checking who is behind them.
HNB lists what it is watching for: fake social media pages and ads, fraudulent websites and links, false promotions and giveaways, and job notices using the names of known organizations. It also flags unexpected calls or messages that ask for confidential information.
A real bank has no reason to ask for your OTP, PIN or password. An OTP is the one-time code sent to your phone to approve a payment or login. HNB says nobody should share these, whoever they claim to represent. The steps in the alert box above cover how to check a message safely.
The bank gave no figures on how many people have been targeted or how much money was lost. It did not name any specific fake pages or say that its own systems were breached. The warning is general advice. For more, HNB points people to the Security Hub at www.hnb.lk, which covers common scam types and what to do if you are hit.
No genuine bank needs your OTP, PIN or password, so anyone asking for them is a scammer, whatever name or logo they use.
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