Police on Wednesday urged the public to be on alert following a spate of complaints of misleading messages claiming to be from banks seeking to obtain personal information.

In an announcement, police said they have received numerous complaints from members of the public about misleading text messages informing them that their credit or debit cards have been temporarily suspended and asking them to contact specific phone numbers so that their details can be verified.

Police urged the public to be particularly careful, not to respond to such messages and to contact their bank or credit card issuer.