The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has warned investors against a fraudulent operation carried out under the name Blue Ocean Securities, involving misleading Facebook advertisements, multiple WhatsApp groups and a fake mobile trading application.

Addressing a press conference this morning, SEC Deputy Director General Tushara Jayaratne said the Commission’s surveillance division first detected a series of Facebook advertisements promoting investment opportunities linked to Blue Ocean Securities.

According to him, the advertisements invite members of the public to join WhatsApp groups, where so-called investment recommendations are shared. Investigations have revealed the existence of around 25 to 30 such WhatsApp groups, with some groups having 200 to 400 members.

Mr. Jayaratne noted that in several instances, the individuals named as company owners or chief executive officers were unaware of the advertisements being circulated using their photographs. He also said that many contact numbers used by the group administrators are local numbers that do not function when contacted.

He further revealed that the groups have falsely claimed that Blue Ocean Securities is working with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and that an application for CSE membership is currently under evaluation.

“This is totally incorrect. Neither the SEC nor the CSE has received any such application,” he stressed, adding that the CSE has already issued a public statement clarifying the matter.

The SEC also raised serious concerns over a recently launched mobile application called ‘BOMate’, promoted by the group as a trading platform. Investors are asked to deposit funds into two bank accounts and are told they can trade securities through the app.

Mr. Jayaratne warned that no real trades take place through the application, despite it displaying CSE logos and trading icons.

“From our systems, we cannot see any transactions. These are fake trades. If you trade through this app, you will not see real market transactions,” he said, describing it as a major scam operation.

The SEC confirmed that it is working closely with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to investigate the matter.