Mumbai: Statistics provided by the Mumbai Police have revealed that cases of Loan Fraud registered this year have already doubled as compared to the cases registered in the entire last year.
While 42 cases of loan fraud were registered in Mumbai last year, this year 96 cases have been registered till last month, statistics revealed. Further, only five cases have been detected this year and 16 persons have been arrested in these cases.
Speaking about the modus-operandi used by the loan frauds, an officer said, "Such lenders are not officially registered with RBI as approved lenders. No physical address or contact information of the lender is available on the app or on the website. These lenders offer loans with just a couple of clicks and do not bother for credit check. They put focus on requesting access to all personal details on the phone, especially contact details. They also offer guaranteed loan irrespective of your CIBIL rating."
"A few lenders also demand advance payment on the pretext of processing fees or GST fees. Lenders come up with time-bound offers and ask applicants to make decisions almost instantaneously using scare tactics, mentioning that the loan offer expires soon. Whenever they offer quick loans to any victim, the victim is required to download a particular app which asks for permission to access all the data in the phone. The fraudsters then use the said information to threaten the victim and extort money," the officer said.
The police advise citizens not to take loans from unauthorised apps or unregistered NBFCs.
"One can check the details of NBFCs on https://rbi.org.in/scripts/bs_nbfclist.aspx .One should always read the reviews of the website and applications before applying for a loan. Also one should never download DMZ or APK files from websites, social media or messaging platforms. One should never do the transaction while on the call. One should also not click or fill on suspicious links," said the officer.
According to the police, they undertake awareness measures for citizens and also update its men to combat cyber-crimes, but still a lot of people get conned by the fraudsters as they target citizens by providing them loans without much hassles.
In May this year, 38-year-old Sandeep Korgaonkar had allegedly died by suicide at his Kurar residence. The family had told the police that he was allegedly being threatened and harassed loan sharks after which he had taken the extreme step. The family had told the police that loan sharks were sending messages and were calling the colleagues of the deceased and were maligning his image.
Similarly, in March this year, a 43-year old woman had died by suicide after she was being allegedly harassed by loan sharks. The police had registered an abetment to suicide case against three loan providing mobile applications and 13 other persons who were calling the victim, threatening her to pay her loan amount, else they would send her edited photograph to her family and relatives.
Safety tips provided by Mumbai Police against instant loan apps:
*Check authenticity of an app before downloading
*Check terms and conditions of the offer
*Do not click & fill short links and any forms
*Never scan any QR codes for receiving money
*Never share your KYC documents on loan apps
*Report cyber-crime on Helpline 1930 or https://cybercrime.gov.in
Loan fraud cases in Mumbai in:
2022 (Jan till Sept) -
Cases registered - 96
Cases detected - 05
Persons arrested - 16
2021 (Jan till Dec) -
Cases registered - 42
Cases detected - 05
Persons arrested - 14
