India, Jan. 8 -- The State Bank of India has issued a public advisory warning its customers against a surge in fraudulent SMS and WhatsApp messages aimed at cheating people by seeking sensitive financial information under the pretext of KYC updates or reward claims.

In the advisory, SBI said fraudsters are sending messages containing links that prompt users to update their KYC details or claim reward points by downloading an APK file. The bank clarified that it never sends links to download any APK file for KYC updation or for redeeming reward points.

The bank has strongly cautioned customers not to click on such links or download any files from unknown or suspicious sources, as doing so could compromise personal and financial informati...