FPJ Cyber Secure: Woman Lands In Loan Shark Net, Blackmailed with Morphed Photo

Mumbai: A 22-year-old woman who had recently downloaded a loan app on her phone had a harrowing experience. The victim started getting calls and messages from unknown numbers and was being threatened to pay the money, else her obscenely morphed photograph would be made viral. The accused had also shared an obscenely edited photograph of the victim with her.

According to the police, the complainant is a student and resident of Dombivali. On July 17, around 9:30 am, the victim had received a text message on her phone from an unknown number. The message contained a link and offered instant approval of the loan once applied. Since the victim was in need of money, she clicked the link and applied for a loan.

Morphed pictures used to blackmail victim

The victim entered her bank account, Aadhar, Pan details and her photographs on the said link. Later, the victim started getting calls from unknown numbers, asking her to pay the loan money. The victim did not pay heed to these calls after which the accused shared a morphed photograph of the victim with her.

A threat was also given to the victim that if she did not pay the money, the said photograph would be made viral and would be shared with her relatives and friends. A frightened victim then approached the police and got a case registered in the matter the next day. The victim has also provided the text message number from which she had got a loan link and five numbers from which she had received threat messages and calls.

The police have registered a case under section 67A (publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit acts, etc., in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act. The police have launched an investigation to trace the culprits involved in the case.

"One should check the authenticity of an app before downloading, check the terms and conditions of the offer, do not click and fill short links and any forms, never scan QR codes for receiving money and never share your KYC documents on loan apps," said a police officer.