SBI Shares Details of Fake WhatsApp Messages Claiming YONO App Deactivation Due to Unupdated Aadhaar

Scammers are always finding new ways to harass and steal from the general public. A recent case highlighted by the State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank, involved scammers sending fake WhatsApp messages to SBI customers. The messages claimed their Aadhaar number wasn’t updated and that their YONO app would be deactivated.

Here is more to it.

SBI Customers receiving Fake WhatsApp Messages

In a post on X, SBI shared a screenshot showing a large SBI YONO logo at the top. Below, the message read: “Dear SBI customer, this is to inform you that your SBI YONO account will be blocked tonight due to your Aadhaar not being updated in your account.  We regret the inconvenience and request you to install our official SBI Aadhaar update APK and update your Aadhaar to proceed with KYC immediately.” At the end, the message contained an “SBI KYC AADHAR UPDATE.apk” file.

https://twitter.com/TheOfficialSBI/status/2019737786346291534

This is clearly a fake attempt to scare users into downloading a malicious app and is not the first time scammers have used such tactics—back in 2024, they sent messages claiming reward points had expired, again with a fake APK file.

SBI has confirmed that they will never ask customers to download apps via APK files or threaten them in this way.  If you receive such messages, it’s best to block the sender and report the incident. You can contact the cyber fraud helpline at 1930 or submit a complaint online via the official cybercrime portal.