Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal on Thursday said there had been a significant rise in the number of cases reported against loan app frauds.
Many people are losing money after taking loans through mobile phone applications.
“A lot of people are getting trapped through these loan apps. They are morphing photographs, sending them to the people on the contact list of the victim and blackmailing them for money. Our message to them is to not panic but to report the matter to us,” Goyal told a news conference.
The city police are now investigating more than two dozen cybercrime complaints on fraudulent use of loan apps.
“But the actual number of such cases is higher than the number reported as many victims say they do not want a formal case,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
Goyal said the police had learnt while investigating the cases that “scamsters sitting in Nepal and Dubai” were running the racket and operating through their conduits in states including West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
“While downloading the apps, people often grant permission to access their contact lists and photographs. Later, these personal data are used to blackmail them and people are forced to pay the money. People should be careful while downloading such apps,” Goyal said.
The Telegraph has been reporting about the increasing menace of frauds through loan apps and by sending text messages telling recipients that their electricity connection would be disconnected if they did not clear their outstanding amount.
“Fraudsters are sending links and making people download screen-sharing apps through which they are getting access to the phone and stealing money. Our whole objective is to create awareness against such frauds. We are soon launching an awareness website for this,” Goyal said.
The police said they had arrested 90 people in connection with cyber crimes over the past few months.
In the majority of cases, the bank accounts where the swindled money is transferred are opened with fake documents or the account holders are found to be completely unaware of how their accounts were being misused, the police said.