HNB PLC is cautioning the public against a rise in impersonation scams, where the fraudsters imitate trusted financial institutions or organisations to deceive individuals into sharing personal or financial information.
Impersonation scams are designed to make fraudulent communications appear genuine. The scammers copy familiar names, logos and visual identities across social media, websites, advertisements, recruitment notices, calls and messaging platforms, often creating urgency or offering attractive incentives to prompt a quick response before the source can be verified.
The public is advised to be particularly cautious of fake social media pages and advertisements, fraudulent websites and links, false promotions and giveaways, recruitment notices using the names of known financial institutions or organisations and unexpected calls or messages requesting confidential information.
No individual or organisation should share their OTP, password, PIN or other confidential information with anyone, regardless of who they claim to represent. The safest approach is to independently verify the source of any communication through official channels before taking any action.
For further guidance on identifying and avoiding impersonation scams, the public can refer to the HNB Security Hub on its official website (www.hnb.lk), which provides information on common scam types, safe digital practices and steps to take if suspicious activity is identified.
