Mumbai: A 24-year-old Chembur resident has lodged a complaint against loan sharks in what police are calling a unique case.
The police have come across a unique modus operandi used by the recovery agents who sent morphed obscene images of the target to their relatives along with messages offering a choice to pay the money with a 50 per cent discount and get the data deleted or face continued harassment.
According to the Nehru Nagar police, the complainant runs a footwear business and had learned about a mobile loan providing application through one of his friends.
Since he was in need of money, he downloaded the app suggested by his friend on May 7 and applied for a loan of Rs 30,000. The amount was to be repaid in 90 days. However, only Rs 3,850 got credited to his bank account, the complainant stated in his FIR.
On May 12, the complainant received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be calling on behalf of the loan company and asked the complainant to pay Rs 7,000.
The complainant refused to pay the amount saying he had received only Rs 3850 loan and disconnected the call.
Within five minutes, he received an image on WhatsApp from the number of the recovery agent. The complainant told the police that it was morphed in an obscene manner, using his face over the nude body of another person, with a derogatory comment about his mother written on it.
After some time, the recovery agent called the complainant again and threatened to send the image to his family and friends if he refused to repay the money.
The complainant then agreed to pay Rs 6,300 through a link provided by the recovery agent.
On May 13, he received a call from another number and the recovery agent asked him to pay the loan amount.
The complainant told the caller that he had already repaid the loan, but the caller then threatened to circulate the morphed image. The complainant blocked the number at the time.
On May 28, the complainant learned through his relatives that the recovery agents had sent them messages giving a choice to either pay off the money with 50 per cent discount and get the data deleted or continue being harassed.
The complainant finally approached the police and got an offence registered in the matter on Sunday.
