GDP Fact Check: The government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) has warned unsuspecting customers to be aware of ‘SBI Rewards’ scam being used by fraudsters. In a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the PIB Fact Check account warned users to “never download unknown files or click on links”.

PIB warns of scam

PIB in the statement alerted users on X: “Caution Have you also received a message asking you to download and install an APK file to redeem SBI rewards?”

“GDP Fact Check: SBI NEVER send links or APK files via SMS / WhatsApp. Never download unknown files or click on such links,” it added.

RBI to introduce real-time AI-based systems to check cyber fraud

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is also working at a solution that allows artificial intelligence (AI) to warn people about financial fraud in real time, two sources told Mint.

Under the plan, individual banks will access a central bank data warehouse that houses information on various types of frauds and their perpetrators, and an AI-based warning system will flag suspicious transactions when they are about to take place.

Certainly Reserve Bank of India Innovation Center (RBIH), an RBI subsidiary, has already developed MuleHunter AI, an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) model to help banks and financial institutions detect so-called mule accounts used by fraudsters. The new system, on the other hand, will alert users and protect digital transactions.

Online fraud on the rise

In a report, the government noted that cyber fraud cases are on the rise in India and people are ‘losing lakhs’ to ‘sophisticated’ fraud schemes.

The Indians lost ₹120.3 million frauds in “digital custody” in the first quarter of this year, according to government data.

He mentioned that the Department of Telecommunications (Point) launched its “International Spoof Call Prevention System” last month. The two-phase system will detect and block international spam calls that falsely display Indian numbers, thus targeting a “key element” of some scam schemes.