No Evidence of An Organized Criminal Group Posing as Government Officials for TIN Registration!

දිනපතා සත්‍ය කරුණු දැන ගැනීමට අපගේ WhatsApp සමුහයටමෙතනින් එකතුවන්න.

The Sri Lankan government's recent introduction of the Tax Identification Number (TIN) to enhance tax collection procedures amid the country's economic crisis has not been welcomed by many groups. Critics argue that the imposition of TIN adds to the financial burden on the struggling population. Moreover, there has been a surge in misleading posts circulating online, targeting the TIN and disseminating misinformation about its implementation procedures. This misinformation has fueled skepticism and opposition.

Social Media Posts

Social media posts state that an organised criminal group is going door to door, posing as officers from the Ministry of Public Administration and Internal Affairs, and have been requesting valid Identity Cards and Tax Identification Number (TIN) numbers, claiming to be for future population censuses. The posts suggest sharing this message with loved ones as such a group is involved in burglaries and other criminal activities.

The post is viral on WhatsApp.

The same post we also found mostly similar posts on FB. Such FB posts can be reached here. Archived

Fact Check:

Inquiry with Defense Ministry Spokesman:

We reached out to the Defense Ministry spokesman, who stated that there have been no reports related to such activities involving the TIN registration process. He emphasised that while there have been instances in the past where individuals posed as different officials, no specific incidents related to crime groups requesting TIN registrations from the public have been reported.

Contacting the Ministry of Public Administration:

The media unit of the Ministry of Public Administration was contacted, and they confirmed that they had not received any news or reports regarding the alleged activities. Furthermore, they clarified that officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not conducting door-to-door searches for TIN numbers.

Absence of Media Reports:

Our search for media reports on the claimed organised group posing as government officials for TIN registration yielded no relevant results. There were no credible news articles or reports supporting the social media claims.

History of Similar Debunked Claims:

Furthermore, we found the current viral posts to be an extension of previous similar viral posts linking to an organized criminal gang, such as posts from 2021, which again were unsubstantiated and hence misleading. Archived Link

As fact-checkers, it's important to note that we have previously debunked similar misleading social media posts in the past. While the specific details may vary, the pattern of spreading misinformation about government initiatives has been observed before.

Here is another incident from the past where a hoax message falsely attributed to Sri Lanka Police spoke about unsubstantiated warnings related to organised crime acts using children to prey on adult victims.

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Conclusion:

There is no credible evidence to support the social media claims about an organised group posing as government officials requesting ID and TIN numbers. The Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Public Administration have not reported any such incidents, and there are no media reports substantiating the claims. Therefore, the social media posts can be considered misleading.