10 lakhs were deducted as soon as the OTP was entered into the bank's fake website.

A person who defrauded ten lakhs of rupees using a fake website designed to closely resemble the official website of a leading private bank in the island has been arrested by the Wayamba Provincial Computer Crime Investigation Unit.

The individual caught in the net of the law is a twenty-two-year-old youth residing in the Minuwangoda area. According to investigations by officers, the total value of the financial fraud committed by this suspect exceeds twenty-seven lakhs of rupees.

Regarding this incident, a complaint was lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department last February by the Managing Director of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company located in Gokaralla, Kurunegala.

The complainant had informed the police that when attempting to conduct a financial transaction through the relevant private bank's website, a one-time password (OTP) received on his mobile phone was entered into the website, and within a short time, ten lakhs of rupees from his account were credited to another account. Upon inquiring with the bank regarding this, he realized that he had not accessed the actual website but a fake site impersonating the bank's website.

Following a lengthy investigation conducted by the Wayamba Provincial Computer Crime Investigation Unit located in Wariyapola, the owner of the account to which the complainant's money was credited was successfully traced. The suspect, who claims to be engaged in an internet-related job, has stated to the police that he opened this new bank account under the instructions of the relevant organization.

He also stated that the money credited to that account is transferred to other accounts by the said organization via secret numbers (OTPs) received on his mobile phone. However, the suspect has failed to provide any accurate information to the police regarding the internet job he claims to be doing or the organization associated with it.

According to the suspect's statements, investigations are currently underway to find other parties involved in this financial racket. These further investigations are being led by Inspector Malisha Herath, OIC of the Wayamba Provincial Computer Crime Investigation Unit, and investigating officer Police Constable (93508) Kulasinghe, along with a team of officers, under the instructions of the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Shani Abeysekera.