New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) has assured customers that their account balances and funds remain safe following an investigation into the suspected exposure of personal information belonging to 3,897 customers on the dark web.
The bank said it had contacted affected customers individually through email and WhatsApp, advising them to stay alert to possible fraud attempts.
“We reiterate that your account balances and funds are safe with us,” SBI said in a post on X.
The bank has not reported any material disruption to its operations. However, the exposure of personal details could leave affected customers vulnerable to phishing messages, identity theft and other fraud attempts.
3,897 customer records identified
SBI launched the investigation after receiving cybersecurity alerts on 16 October from its threat intelligence service provider, the Defence Cyber Agency and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
A preliminary review of around 3.75 lakh records available on the dark web identified 3,897 records containing personally identifiable customer information, the bank disclosed on Wednesday.
The exposed information reportedly included:
Customer names, registered mobile numbers and email addresses
Dates of birth, gender and residential addresses
Branch identifiers and Customer Information File (CIF) identifiers
Lead IDs and metadata linked to loan-related records
SBI has not confirmed whether its core banking systems were compromised. The investigation is expected to establish how the information became available online and whether the exposure involved the bank's systems or associated platforms.
For affected customers, the immediate concern is the possible misuse of their personal details. Messages or calls referring to genuine account information may appear credible, making it important to verify communications through official SBI channels and avoid sharing passwords, PINs or one-time passwords (OTPs).
