The New Indian Express ·
Unregulated loan apps deceive blue-collar workers with real transfer of decoy funds
NEW DELHI: A network of unregulated mobile loan applications promising instant cash, several of them running from beyond borders, are targeting the blue-collar workforce and trapping daily-wage earners in cycles of debt and extortion.
A TMS investigation, involving direct interaction with individuals operating two such applications, found operators claiming to work from Pakistan, Bangladesh and a “cyber city” in Thailand. These apps sit comfortably on the Google Play Store. They disappear when regulators catch up, but resurface under a new identity offering the same services.
In one case, a message popped up on a user’s phone—“instant cash”, an easy loan with minimal paperwork. Within minutes of downloading an application called Rupeeline and Rupeelaon, filling the form and sharing bank details, a small amount of Rs 2,400 landed in the user’s bank account without any approval. What followed was a payment of Rs 9,500 to cyber fraudsters and three phone numbers. Threat calls were made from Pakistani nationals claiming to work out of a “cyber city” in Thailand.
Thereafter, a payment of Rs 9,500 was made through the Rupeeline app where the fraudsters kept open the window.
The payment gateway of the application was blocked. A number was then given to make the payment, after being shown all the documents—bank account details, Aadhaar card, PAN card and the loan application. The payment went out via UPI to the number 6209792382.
Operators claim to be calling from Pak, B’desh or ‘cyber city’ in Thailand
The user spoke Hindi with what sounded like a UP-Bihar accent. Two other numbers surfaced during the exchange—8092172699 and 8252724385—whose users first said they were calling from Pakistan. When pressed further, they said they were operating out of a “cyber city” in Thailand. The claim could not be independently verified. Rupeeline itself is not a ghost app.
The second was a loan application called Zuni Fin. The story was much the same. This time the numbers were +8801884391257 and others, all claiming to be calling from Bangladesh. Hundreds of these applications sit on the Google Play Store promising instant short-term loans and targeting blue-collar workers across the country. They are unregulated, operated from abroad and are slowly taking away hundreds of crores of rupees of blue-collar workers’ hard-earned money.
The story of RBI-registered NBFCs is not different. They charge interest rates as high as 34 per cent for 20 or 30 days, and then follow up with threatening calls to already-distressed blue-collar workers. “These are making a dent in the Indian economy. There has to be a stringent law,” said an IPS officer.
Last year, the Cyber Cell of the Himachal Pradesh Police named 15 apps actively harassing users, mostly blue-collar workers. It issued an advisory, naming Rapid Rupee, CashBus, Go Cash, Rupee Bazaar, SnapIt Loan, Easy Loan, Dhana Dhan Loan, CreditZilla, Flash Loan, Mera Loan, Quick Cash, Rupee King, Cash Tree, CashLion and Instant Loan Pro.