New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) has issued a cautionary public advisory warning its 45 crore-plus customers about a new type of banking fraud where scammers and fraudsters attempt to replace a customer’s registered mobile number with their own. The alert was shared through SBI’s official handle on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
As per the public sector lender, once fraudsters successfully change the registered number, all banking alerts are diverted to their phones, leaving customers unaware of unauthorized transactions taking place in their accounts.
How the fraud works
SBI, in an X post, explained that fraudsters are primarily targeting old-age pensioners. They contact the pensioners via phone or SMS, promising help in assisting in faster processing of Pension Payment Orders (PPO) or in completing pending PPO verifications. If pensioners refuse to comply, scammers threaten that their pension will be blocked or stopped. By cashing in on the anxiety created through the pretext of blocking the pension, they extract sensitive information, which can then be misused.
The PPO number is a unique 12-digit identifier issued by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Employees’ Pension Scheme. It is essential for all pension-related transactions and communication. SBI in its post clarified that it never seeks PPO verification through phone calls, SMS, links, or ATM visits.
SBI’s safety guidelines
To safeguard its customers, SBI has advised never to share personal or financial details such as usernames, passwords, ATM PINs, or OTPs with anyone. Customers should only download or update banking apps through official app stores. For queries, they can reach out to their home branch, call SBI customer care at 18001234/18002100, or report cybercrimes via helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.
The bank further emphasized reading SMS and email alerts carefully and avoiding suspicious links. It reminded customers that their registered mobile number is the key to account security and must be protected at all costs.
SBI Helpline
In order to help customers differentiate genuine calls from junk or spam calls, SBI clarified that calls originating from numbers beginning with +91-1600 are authentic and are related to the organization. Any other number apart from these is to be avoided. These are used only for transactional and service-related purposes. Customers are urged not to engage with unsolicited or unknown numbers.
With digital banking frauds on the rise, SBI’s advisory serves as a reminder to remain vigilant and follow safe banking practices.