Imposter pages target Sri Lankan Facebook users with 'lost luggage' scam

Published on January 20, 2025 at 07:43
Updated on January 20, 2025 at 07:53
3 min read
By Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka

Imposter pages that farm personal data by claiming to sell lost and unclaimed luggage for low prices have popped up in Sri Lanka, where they are masquerading as being affiliated with Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport. The posts include an image purportedly showing the luggage that can be bought for as little as 645 rupees ($2), but which in fact shows bags from disrupted flights at an airport in the United States. A duty manager at Bandaranaike airport said the posts are a "scam", and the police have been informed.

"Get a travel bag for 645 rupees," read part of a Sinhala-language post shared on a Facebook page called "Bandaranaike International Airport" on December 31, 2024.

"Sri Lanka's Bandaranaike International Airport is selling lost luggage which has been stored for more than six months. According to regulations, luggage has to be removed, but as a charity the airport has organised a programme to sell the luggage," it added.

The page appears to impersonate the official Facebook page of the international airport in Colombo by having the same name and profile picture (archived link).

An image attached to the post purportedly shows the luggage to be sold next to a sign where the price is listed as 645 rupees.

The post also directs users to a website where they can supposedly place an order for a bag. Users who want to order, however, need to give their name and phone number.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on January 1, 2025

The same image was shared in similar posts here and here.

Comments from users listed as living outside Sri Lanka appear to have been added to give the purported sale legitimacy.

"I'm still in shock. Courier brought my bag of travel today. Look what I got," read one such comment from a user listed as living in the United Kingdom next to a photo of a neatly packed suitcase.

But an official at Bandaranaike International Airport told AFP: "If someone is posing as us, it is definitely a scam."

"We have informed the public through social media handles about these posts being circulated online. We have already informed the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police," Ruwan Priyadarshana, duty manager at the airport, said on December 31.

The airport has warned about such posts before on its official Facebook page -- in October and December 2024 (archived here and here).

AFP has also previously debunked false claims about lost luggage sales in Australia and New Zealand, the Philippines and South Africa.

Chicago airport

A closer analysis of the image shared alongside the false post show the bags are not at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

Barcode stickers on the luggage read "MWD" and "LAS", which are airport codes for the Chicago Midway International Airport and the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

A reverse image search on Google led to a similar photo published by NBC News on December 26, 2022 about winter weather disrupting travel at airports across the United States (archived link).

The photo is captioned: "A sea of baggage at Chicago's Midway Airport."

The photo is an uncropped version of the image falsely shared on social media, and the sign indicating the supposed price of the bags appears to have been added in.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the false posts (left) and the photo used by NBC (right):

Screenshot comparison of the image in the false posts (left) and the photo used by NBC (right)

AFP reported at the time that a perfect storm of fierce snow squalls, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancelation of more than 15,000 US flights (archived link).

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