The police's fraud bureau arrested the people from Colombo and the west coast town of Negombo while they were waiting to leave for Australia.
Six of them are believed to be agents who were behind the scam, police spokesman Superintendent Ajith Rohana said.
The police have also seized seven vehicles which were being used to transport them for the trawler ride.
The arrested people are residents of the west coast town of Chilaw and Negombo and had paid 200,000 Sri Lankan rupees each to their agents.
Since the end of the conflict with the LTTE in 2009, the Australian authorities have arrested a number of people who were trying to reach the country's shores travelling illegally on multiday fishing trawlers.
The scams prompted senior government level contact between the two nations.
