SBI Alert! SBI Cautions Customers Against Online FD Fraud

The State Bank of India, India's largest public lender, has issued an alert to its customers and the general public, urging them to be wary of online scams. According to the bank, there have been numerous reports of cyber criminals creating online fixed deposits in customers' accounts.

As a result, the State Bank of India has asked its customers to take control of their account access and not share personal information such as passwords, OTPs, CVVs, and card numbers. The bank would never request these details over the phone, via SMS, or through the mail.

SBI latest FD interest rate

General customers can earn 2.9% to 5.4% on SBI FDs with terms ranging from 7 days to 10 years. Senior citizens will receive an additional 50 basis points (bps) on these deposits. SBI has revised its rates for retail FDs of less than 2 crores, which will take effect on January 8, 2021.

SBI took to Twitter to inform its customers about a new type of cyber fraud in which fraudsters use the victim's online FD account to steal money.

How they defraud customers?

Fraudsters' overall operation entails creating FD accounts for target victims using their net banking details and transferring a small amount, then taking advantage of this and posing as bank officials, asking for OTP, and if the OTP is shared, transferring the FD amount into their own account.

Steps to open a fixed deposit account in SBI

Step 1: Login SBI Internet Banking
Step 2: Click on 'e-TDR/e-STDR (FD)
Step 3: Select the type of FD account
Step 4: Select the account
Step 5: Deposit tenure and maturity date.
Step 6: Select your term deposit account's maturity instruction i.e
Step 7: Accept the 'terms and conditions' and click on 'Submit'

SBI sends out periodic alerts to its customers, warning them about phishing trends and how to protect themselves from such scams. SBI's official Twitter handle (@TheOfficialSBI) keeps customers up to date.