Loan recovery agents blackmailing customers after hacking phones

Amid the financial crisis that the COVID19induced lockdown has caused borrowers are having to contend with loan recovery agents who have resorted to new ways of harassment Loan companies are accessing phonebook data of their borrowers through mobile apps that they are made to download to apply for the loan The recovery agents then not only abuse defaulters and their families but also threaten to send personal pictures to all their contactsA few borrowers approached the police but could not get an FIR registered Others chose not to go to police fearing their phones would be confiscatedA screenshot of Ishaan Vandoors chat with a loan recovery agent Right A notice for defaulting on loan repaymentPrivate professional Ishaan Vandoor 30 a resident of Chira Bazaar at Marine Lines told midday that he had taken a loan of Rs 25000 from Creditt in March and was supposed to repay it on April 22 When he defaulted his relatives friends colleagues wife mother and several others were contacted by recovery agents who defamed himNeeded money for medsI had borrowed the money for a medical emergency I had sincerely requested the recovery agents to give me some time as I suffered pay cuts during the lockdown They called over 60 people from my phone contacts I dont know how they accessed them They are threatening to form a WhatsApp group and abuse me there Vandoor saidRepresentation picGetty ImagesThey also threatened my diabetic mother Her health deteriorated She gave me all her jewellery to repay the loanWith several fines and high rate of interest I ended up paying Rs 48000 said Vandoor who did not approach the police as he wanted to be rid of the recovery agentsFrom left Gisela Pereiras tweet CashBeanrsquos message on WhatsApp to a defaulter Ishaan Vandoors WhatsApp chat with a loan recovery agentAccount assistant at a resort Chetna Kadu 32 hails from Sion She took a loan of Rs 13900 from CashBean and another of Rs 4500 from MoneyMore to buy medicines for her mother Due to financial difficulties she could not repay the loanThe recovery agents verbally abused me MoneyMore sent me a list of contacts saved in my phonebook and threatened to call everyone if I didnt pay up I am stuck near Matheran and I cant even visit the police station in Sion to register the complaint she saidGisela Pereira 27 took a loan of Rs 5000 from GetRupee but lost her job during the lockdown I received a list of contacts in my phonebook My father cousins were contactedI approached Vikhroli police but they did not register an FIR Recovery agents say they have all my phone data including photos Pereira saidCOVID patients not sparedKorobi Pramanik 24 from Ulhasnagar said I took a loan of R5000 from Rupee Loan in MarchI lost my job and also got infected by COVID19 and could not repay When I told them I am infected they said First repay the loan and then go to COVID hospital How can someone be so insensitiveAccess through appsGovind Ray a cybercrime consultant said As everyone tries to cope with the financial crisis loan companies are using malicious means to recover dues Here users are required to download mobile applications to apply for loansThese apps can access the phonebook But if you default the recovery agents will use the information in the phone book to call relatives In a few cases recovery agents send the entire copy of phone books to the borrower to threaten and scare themAccording to Ray the phone book data is accessed from the mobile while the user is filling the application formTrading of data through illicit means has been a problem in the past 10 years There is a possibility of the data being used for unlawful purposesAnother observation is that in a lot of companies one of the partners is a Chinese individual Ray saidRay added that borrowers can approach police if recovery agents are using illegal means such as blackmail threats abuse etcThe borrower can take legal action against the recovery agent the agency along with the bank that has hired the agencyAs per RBI guidelines this can be reported to police and to RBI too he saidIn this case since the malicious activity also involves offences in cyberspace it would also involve penal provisions of the IT Act 2000 for unauthorised access and breach of privacyWhat cops sayCyber criminals have always been in search of new modus operandi to target peopleThis is a new one that I am hearing To the best of my knowledge no such case has been registered in Mumbai But if any borrower approaches us we will definitely probe for illegal activities like data breach Shahaji Umap spokesperson for Mumbai police saidRs 25000Amount Ishaan Vandoor had borrowedRs 48000Amount Vandoor had to pay after fines and interestRs 5kAmount borrowed by Korobi Pramanik who got infected by COVID1960No of Ishaan Vandoors contacts called by the recovery agentsRs 5kAmount borrowed by Gisela PereiraCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and 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