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A viral message dressed up as an official airport emergency alert has been spreading fear across Sri Lankan social media, claiming that a criminal gang is selling keychains embedded with GPS tracking chips at airports, fuel stations, and public spaces. The story is not new: it is a recycled hoax that has circulated internationally for nearly two decades, now translated into Sinhala and reshared among Sri Lankan WhatsApp and Facebook users. Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka investigated the claims.
Social Media Posts:
The deceptive message circulated widely on Facebook. Below is how it appeared:
The same message flooded WhatsApp groups across Sri Lanka:
Fact-Check:
An initial review of the message raised red flags immediately. Although the message was presented as an official warning from a Sri Lankan airport authority, the address printed at the bottom belonged to the Operations Control Center of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai, India.. The telephone numbers listed were also Indian numbers. These details made it highly improbable that the message originated from any Sri Lankan institution, prompting Fact Crescendo to contact the relevant authorities directly.
The Police Media Division of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Police confirmed that no such warning had been issued by the Police Media Division. When police issue public safety advisories, they do so through official press releases distributed to all media organizations. No such release had been received by Fact Crescendo or any other media outlet. Police Media Division officials further confirmed that no information or reports related to any such incident existed within the force.
Bandaranaike International Airport
Fact Crescendo contacted the Media Division of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) directly. Airport officials confirmed that they had not issued any such warning to the public or to the police, that no related incident had been reported at BIA, and that no record of this kind of criminal activity existed at the airport.
Reverse Image Search
The photograph used in the viral posts was subjected to a reverse image search. It was found to be taken from a product advertisement on Flipkart.com, an Indian e-commerce marketplace with no connection to any criminal activity or police investigation.
Mumbai Airport States the Posts Are False
Since the address and phone number in the message pointed to Mumbai, Fact Crescendo also investigated whether the incident had occurred in India. It was established that this message had been circulating among Indian social media users since 2013,. Mumbai Airport (CSMIA) confirmed that it had never issued such a warning and that the circulating message is a complete hoax. Archived Link
To lend false credibility, the address and contact details of the Mumbai Airport Operations Control Center (AOCC) were fraudulently included. Mumbai Airport’s official clarifications are available here and here.
The rumor originated in South Africa
Tracing the hoax further back reveals that it first emerged in South Africa in 2008, when a fuel company distributed free solar-powered LED keychains to customers as a promotional gift. Opportunistic rumormongers attached a false narrative claiming the keychains contained hidden GPS tracking devices, and the story spread globally from there.
The Snopes fact-checking team documented that this message was first recorded in South Africa in August 2008. Since then, numerous localized versions have surfaced across different countries, adapted to mention local airports, local police forces, and local languages including, most recently, a Sinhala-language version circulating in Sri Lanka.
Also Read the Sinhala Article: Keytags චේන්වල ලුහුබැඳීමේ චිප් ඇතුළත් කරමින් අලෙවි කරන වංචාවක් ගැන පොලිසියෙන් අනතුරු ඇඟවීමක්?
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Conclusion:
The social media posts claiming that police issued an emergency warning about a criminal gang selling GPS-embedded keychains at Sri Lankan airports, fuel stations, and public spaces are completely false.
Sri Lanka Police and Bandaranaike International Airport both confirmed that no such warning was issued and that no such incident was reported anywhere. The photograph used in the posts was traced to a product listing on an Indian e-commerce site, and the address and phone numbers embedded in the message belong to Mumbai Airport in India, not any Sri Lankan authority.
This hoax originated in South Africa in 2008, circulated in India from 2013 onwards, and has now been translated into Sinhala and reshared in Sri Lanka. It was engineered to cause unwarranted public fear. Readers are strongly urged not to share this message on social media.
Title: Police Have Not Issued a Warning About Keyrings Allegedly Containing Tracking Chips
Fact Check By: Pavithra Sandamali
Result: False
