Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama today (11) ordered the release of a suspect accused of creating Facebook pages using photos of women without their knowledge and later selling those pages for money. The suspect was released on a personal bail of Rs. 500,000.
The suspect had allegedly created several Facebook pages using pictures of women sourced from their social media profiles. According to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), once the pages gained a large following, the suspect had sold them to various individuals for financial gain.
The CID informed the court that the pages were created using phrases such as “My Moon You” to attract followers. Investigations revealed that more than 10 such pages had been fraudulently created.
The case came to light after a woman lodged a complaint with the Computer Crimes Investigation Division, stating that her photograph had been used without her consent.
The Chief Magistrate instructed the Computer Crimes Investigation Unit to closely monitor whether the suspect continues such activities while out on bail and to report any findings to the court.
The suspect was arrested by the CID and produced before the court prior to being granted bail.
