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SBI Scammers now frequently employ phishing emails and messages to trick people and trick them into falling victim to financial fraud. Recently, there has been a circulating SMS message purporting to be from the official channel of State Bank of India (SBI) informing consumers that their SBI YONO account will be blocked unless they update their PAN card. SBI’s mobile app is called YONO.Account users have been alerted about these SMS messages by the Fact Check division of the Indian government (PIB Fact Check).
Here is how the new scam tries to trap the users:
- Informing customers about winning lottery and asking them to contact an SBI number.
- Please be informed that SBI does not, under any circumstances, solicit personal or account-specific information by phone calls, emails, SMS, calls, or WhatsApp messages.
- Please be cautious and consider your options before falling into any such traps. There isn’t a lottery system or lucky customer prize offers now running.
- Be wary of phony callers or forwarded texts as cybercriminals are waiting for a single error.
- Would you kindly inform others about this message in order to protect them from similar scams?
Here are best practices to follow to avoid Smishing attacks:
- Any text message requesting urgent personal or financial information should raise suspicions.
- Never send confidential information via text messaging.
- On the SMS, do not click on any links.
- For assistance, kindly give the bank a call or use the information available solely on its official website.
Best practices for using mobile phones safely
- Your phone should be set up with biometric permissions and strong passwords.
- To prevent abuse, keep your SIM card secured with a PIN. In the event that your mobile device is lost or stolen, get in touch with your service provider right once to have the SIM card blocked.
- You should never keep your PIN or bank account number on your phone.
- Install and maintain an antivirus program on your mobile device.
- Keep an eye on the permissions of the essential apps that are loaded on your phones and maintain a record of the apps that are not needed or utilized.
- Never use rooted or jailbroken devices with banking software installed.
- Stay away from using public wifi networks to connect phones.
Customers of SBI receive reward points for payments made through its banking channels; each point is worth 25 paise. Hackers target large balances that result from customers accruing points over several months without using them. They lure people into becoming victims of fraud by sending phony links to redeem these points.
Here’s how you can safely redeem your reward points:
Step 1: To redeem your reward points, go to https://www.rewardz.sbi/ and select the “New User” option;
Step 2: Next, enter your Rewardz Customer ID and use the OTP that was issued to your registered mobile number to confirm the details of your account;
Step 3: Your reward points are now redeemable after being validated.
CONCLUSION
According to SBI, if a consumer commits fraud as a result of the bank’s negligence, they will not be refunded; but, if the customer causes the loss via their own carelessness, they would receive full compensation.
Customers were notified a few days ago about a potential scam in which some con artists are sending emails that appear to be from the company. “False alert emails in the name and style of SBI are being sent to our clients by nonexistent businesses. Please don’t click on these kinds of emails. We never, ever send emails like that “SBI had tweeted.
