SBI releases awareness campaign against fraud calls, messages

If you happen to receive calls or messages from unknown numbers warning you that your electricity connection be cut or if you get dubious messages claiming that you won a lottery worth xyz rupees, then it is high time to know that such scam calls and messages are carried out by fraudsters. Their main motive is to dupe you on false pretexts.

To create awareness among users against such fraudsters, State Bank of India shared a 25-second video on its Twitter handle warning customers against falling prey to such scam calls.

"Understand "YehWrongNumberHai"! Never call back or respond to such SMSs as these are scams to steal your personal/financial information. Stay Alert and #SafeWithSBI. #CyberJagrooktaDiwas", the bank tweeted.

Citing an example of a scam message, the video claims that a customer's power supply will be disconnected very soon. “Dear customer, Ur electricity will be disconnected today Night 9.30 from the Electricity officer. Ur previous month's bill not updated. Please immediately contact the Electricity officer", the message in the video reads.

It points out that the message has been sent by an unknown number and not an official ID. The users on receiving such messages are asked to make calls to a random number. The bank has asked users to verify the source of the message to ensure it is not a hoax or scam message.