CHENNAI: Police have launched a search for fraudsters who siphoned off more than Rs 50,000 from two persons in separate incidents by sending phishing links as SMS to their mobile phone, as if it was a communication from their bank.

According to the ploice, the victims Abdul Latheef and Raj Kumar lost Rs 44,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.

On Friday night, Abdul Latheef had received a SMS which claimed that his savings account was blocked and it requires an update of the Know your customer(KYC) details. Without realising that it was not an official communication, Latheef clicked the link and he was directed to another site, where he updated his KYC details. Within seven minutes, he received messages stating that money was debited from his account, to the tune of Rs 44,000. Raj Kumar from Puzhal who received a call from fraudsters asking to update KYC details got Rs 10,000 siphoned off his account.

Puzhal police have registered a case on both their complaints and launched a search for the fraudsters. Police appealed to the public to be cautious of messages with links and new website addresses.