Three individuals, including a Nigerian have been remanded on charges of defrauding a Sri Lankan living in France via email.

Police Spokesman, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ajith Rohana said the suspects were remanded till 21 January after being produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had found that the Nigerian had hacked into the email of an individual in Sri Lanka and had sent an email to the Sri Lankan employed in France requesting for money.

The suspect has requested Rs. 900,000 and had provided a different bank account. The man in France is reported to have deposited Rs. 300,000 to the said account.The suspects have been identified as a 35-year-old Nigerian living in Nugegoda, a 50-year-old man from Wellampitiya, and 60- year-old man from Maradana.

The CID has recovered Rs.90,000 from among the deposited cash, 22 fake National Identity Cards of Sri Lankans, 18 bank passbooks, 29 ATM cards, one laptop, and 12 mobile phones from the Nigerian’s possession.

Investigations have revealed that the Nigerian is an expert in hacking emails and defrauding people via fake emails requesting for money.

DIG Ajith Rohana urged the public to remain vigilant and to secure email accounts used for monetary transactions. (Colombo Gazette)