Hyderabad: Two more new cases against loan app agents

HYDERABAD: Rachakonda police have registered two cases against loan app representatives for morphing pictures of a man and a woman and sending them to their contacts to recover the loan amounts. In the first case, a 24-year-old woman of Hayathnagar narrated her trauma after her brother and other phone contacts received a nude morphed photo of hers on WhatsApp, days after she took a loan of Rs 1,300.
Agents of the app, AK Loan, were abusive in their messages while demanding repayment. In the second case, a 37-year-old resident of Bhuvanagiri said he took a loan of Rs 1,500 and repaid Rs 1,860 after a week, yet he got abusive calls from the loan app agents.
There seems to be no end to loan app sharks' coercive methods. Rachakonda police have registered two more cases against rogue loan representatives for morphing the nude pictures of a man and a woman and sending them to their contacts to recover the loan amounts.
After the Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines for controlling these online lending apps, both these cases assume significance.
In the first case, a 24-year-old woman, a resident of Hayathnagar, narrated her trauma and mental agony after her brother and other contacts on phone received a nude morphed photo of hers on WhatsApp on August 6, days after she took a loan of 1,300. Representatives of the app, AK Loan, were abusive in their messages while demanding repayment of the loan.
In her complaint with Rachakonda police, she said: "I was in need of money and installed the AK Loan app and submitted my details like Aadhaar card, PAN card, bank account details and a selfie photo. The app sought permission to access my gallery, contacts, camera, storage and location. I clicked 'allow' in order to continue with the process."
She took 1,300 and repaid 2,400 along with interest on August 5 using Googlepay. "I have been receiving calls from people who claimed themselves to be loan recovery agents of AK Loan app. They asked me to repay the loan. I told them that I had already repaid the loan and sent the payment receipt of 2,400 to them through WhatsApp," she said in the complaint.
"But, they kept calling or messaging me continuously from various numbers to repay the loan. I was annoyed and started blocking them. However, on August 6, my brother and other contacts received a nude morphed photo of mine. I am unable to lead my life peacefully and also facing mental trauma," she complained.
Rachakonda cyber crime police booked a case under IPC sections 385 (putting a person in fear), 469 (forgery), 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and relevant sections of the Act.
In the second case, a 37-year-old resident of Bhuvanagiri district said he took a loan of 1,500 and repaid 1,860 after a week. "However, 1,860 was credited automatically to my SBI account four times on June 7 without my knowledge. Then, two loan apps - Get a Cash and ABC Loan - got installed on my phone and 1.4 lakh was credited automatically to my SBI account in several transactions," he said.
All he did was installing an app, Ok Rupee, and submitting personal details when he was in need of money. "Soon, I started receiving threatening messages. Out of fear, between June 6 and July 31, I transferred 2.8 lakh to them. Even after repaying 1.25 lakh more, they have been using abusive language demanding repayment of the loan," he said.