LankaPay, the country’s National Payment Network has partnered with Sri Lanka Banks’ Association, SL CERT, FinCSIRT and the entire financial sector to counter social engineering attacks and financial scams with a national level public awareness campaign as recommended by the National Payments Council which is chaired by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). Supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), this campaign was created to accommodate a long-felt need to apprise the general public on payments related frauds, which have increased greatly in number and complexity, with the growth in digital transactions over the last few years.

A press conference on the above public awareness campaign was held on 5^th September 2023 at Galadari Hotel Colombo. Director – Payments and Settlements of CBSL, Mr. Vasantha Alwis; Chairman – LankaPay, Dr. Kenneth De Zilwa; CEO – LankaPay, Mr. Channa de Silva; Chairman – SL CERT, Mr. Rohan Muttiah; and Chairman - Working Group for Creating Customer Awareness on Payment Related Scams, Mr. Nuwan Wickramanayake addressed the gathering.

Amongst the participants were the General Secretary of SLBA – Mr. Ravi de Silva; Acting CEO of SL CERT – Dr. Kanishka Karunasena; and other members of the Working Group for Creating Customer Awareness on Payment Related Scams. The creative concept and execution of the campaign were carried out by Ogilvy Digital.

During the press conference, the need for a national level awareness campaign with the participation of all industry participants was clearly underscored in order to counter the challenge of financial scams and social engineering attacks which could potentially become a major obstacle for the country’s digitalization journey if not addressed immediately.

The National Payment Council appointed a working group in 2021, representing CBSL, public and private commercial banks, and finance companies in the country to probe into the rising financial scams and to make recommendations towards raising public awareness. During the press conference, it was revealed that the primary reason for financial scams taking place in the country is the lack of awareness and ignorance on the part of consumers as opposed to cyber-attacks and system failures. It was also revealed that customers who are using digital banking channels as well as customers using non-digital channels are equally exposed and vulnerable to most financial scams.

Based on the survey findings, the first phase of the campaign will focus on six key identified areas including One Time Passwords (OTP), ATM and phishing scams, security aspects to be considered in performing online transactions, importance of SMS alerts, and the confidentiality of personal and banking credentials. The campaign will be conducted primarily in Sinhala and Tamil languages targeting the masses, with a special focus on vulnerable segments.

The campaign will be executed with the support of CBSL, all banks, financial institutions and FinTechs who play a leading role in the digital ecosystem. The role of the media in taking this message to the masses was also highlighted during the press conference.