SBI Reward Points Scam: How to stay safe and avoid online frauds

Technology has brought the world to our fingertips. We used to go to banks for financial transactions, hotels for food, and malls for shopping... but now we do all these things from home. Everything is done with a single click on a smartphone. This technology also provides the opportunity to sit in one corner of the earth and do work in another.

While we are patting ourselves on the back for making things easier, this same technology has started to burn holes in our pockets. Since cell phones have become banks, financial fraud has increased. Someone we don't know, sitting somewhere in the world, can rob us of our money with a single phone call or message. With the advent of smartphones, the number of cybercrimes has increased enormously.

If we are even a little careless... cybercriminals are sweeping away our entire accounts and leaving us on the road. We are seeing many incidents where people are collecting our account and other details in the name of bank staff, police, and IT officials and stealing money. Recently, cybercriminals have planned to rob State Bank customers in a new way.

State Bank Customers Targeted:

Fraudsters are back in the field, targeting State Bank of India account holders and SBI credit card holders. They are cheating in the name of reward points. They are sending SMS messages saying that reward points have come and should be used immediately.

For example, they will convince you that you have received reward points worth Rs 9,000 or more... and that the deadline to use these points expires today. The message will say that to use them immediately, click on the link below and download the app. After downloading, they will ask for bank account details like account number, mobile number, and password.

If you believe this is true and provide the details, that's it... this information reaches the cyber fraudsters. With this, the miscreants empty our bank account in moments. Not only that, our bank account can also be used for other illegal activities.

Currently, it is the festive season, so many people make payments with debit and credit cards. So as soon as the message arrives, customers believe that they have actually received reward points... so they are being cheated very easily.

How to avoid these scams

Not all reward point messages from SBI are fake. But SBI does not send download links along with such messages. SBI reward points can only be redeemed through online banking. Do not click on any links for this.

If you also receive such a message, be careful. Do not click on the links they send under any circumstances. Delete such messages immediately. If you download the app, uninstall it immediately, it is better to format the phone. Do not share OTP related to transactions with anyone.