Mumbai: Loan sharks chase woman, make false claim after app deletion

A 22-year-old Vasai resident recently uninstalled a loan app from her phone without borrowing any money, and yet loan sharks chased her with photo morphing tactics. Despite deleting the app without availing the loan, the lenders started calling and sending messages, demanding that she return the purported amount of Rs 4,500. To tarnish her reputation – a standard tactic of loan app handlers – they even morphed her photograph in an obscene manner and sent it to her fiancé, asking him instead for repayment. The woman later approached the police with a complaint.

The incident occurred last month when the complainant came across information about a loan app. She installed it on her phone and gave the requisite permissions. She even logged in but changed her mind later, only to uninstall it. On September 29, she was shocked to receive a message from an unknown number, demanding the loan amount in a threatening tone. The sender also told her that he had access to her phone contact list.

The police have, meanwhile, registered a case under sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 43 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer, computer system, etc) and 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.