'Fraudsters at play!' SBI cautions against suspicious income tax refund messages

State Bank of India has warned its account holders against fraudulent e-mails and text messages demanding credentials to process income tax refund. The largest lender in India stated in a tweet that these communications were from fraudsters looking to dupe people. The bank urged its account holders to refrain from such messages and report them immediately.

"Received any message from the Income Tax Department, requesting you to put in a formal request for your refund? These messages are from fraudsters at play! Ensure you ignore and report the messages immediately," SBI said in a tweet on its official handle.

SBI also shared a short animated video with the tweet asking customers whether they had "received any suspicious e-mail, SMS or communication asking for credentials for processing IT refund". The video further says that clicking on links in such messages will redirect you to another website where the fraudster will ask for your ID, password and other details to access your money.

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Such communications are phishing attempts by fraudsters looking to get account and personal details of account holders under the guise of reliable entities, in this case the Income Tax Department.

SBI goes on to warn its customers against clicking on suspicious links or sharing personal information with someone. The bank also asks people to report such activity to the police and cyber crime cell immediately.

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