Bank SMS Fraud: SEBI RIA Vinay Arora Shares 3 Ways To Spot Fake Messages

Financial scams are not always easy to identify, as fraudulent attempts can look legitimate at first. Bank-related SMS scams follow a similar pattern with fraudulent messages designed to resemble regular alerts, which makes it important to carefully check the message before taking any action.

Vinay Arora, a SEBI-registered investment adviser and Delhi University finance professor, recently shared a video on Instagram mentioning three ways users can check whether a bank SMS sender is genuine before clicking on a link or sharing sensitive information.

How To Verify A Bank SMS Sender

In the video, Arora shows two similar-looking SBI SMS, describing one as genuine and the other as a scam. He uses the example to highlight why users should examine the sender details instead of relying only on the appearance of an SMS. According to Arora, the first step is to copy the sender header from the SMS and send it to 1909 to check its registration status. He said that if the sender is shown as unregistered, users should not trust the message or click on any links included in it.

The second method suggested by Arora is to use the TRAI SMS Header portal. Users can enter the required details on the portal to check whether the sender is registered with a genuine company.

The third check involves looking carefully at the sender's name. Arora said scammers may replace or alter a character so that a fraudulent sender name appears almost identical to a genuine one. In the example shown in his video, he points to a lowercase character as the difference between the two messages.

Check Sender Details Before Clicking Links

Arora also advised users not to trust an SMS simply because it appears to have come from their bank. He recommended taking a few seconds to verify the sender before clicking links or sharing sensitive information such as OTPs, PINs, passwords or banking details.

The appearance of a bank SMS does not always confirm whether it is real or not. If users verify the sender before clicking a link or sharing sensitive information, they can reduce the risk of scams and potential financial loss.