Thiruvananthapuram : There are growing number of cases reported in State where people are being scammed via online loan Apps, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly on Monday. As per police findings, these Apps are operated by people based in outside states and their setups neither conform with RBI rules nor the Money Lender’s Act.
The menace is now a grave social issue. There are two sides to it. First, while we have all become mobile users as integral part of current times, there is a myriad of frauds we expose ourselves to inadvertently against which, there is gross lack of awareness.
Secondly, many are in the habit of borrowing from all sources they can and become easy prey to alluring offers for loans online, only to be duped and harassed in unthinkable ways.
The modus operandi is like this. When mobile users download a lending app, the con operators first of all secure all personal details of the loan seeker. They then deduct 30% of the loan amount as processing fees and pay the person rest of the amount, for a time period of not more than one week. For any lapse on repayment, the loan companies unleashes threatening calls and start a cycle of mental torture and blackmail hard to withstand.
Police are initiating strict action against this kind of frauds. To efficiently detect and act against cyber crimes, there are 16 cyber police stations functioning across the State. Embedded into this system is “Hi-tech Inquiry Cell” constituted specially to tackle the menace of online loan scams. This cell comprises specially trained team of officials for skillful detection of loan frauds.
Additionally, to raise public alertness on online loan scams, police are spreading greater awareness on the issue using its Social Media Cell and Jana Maitri project, said CM.
