Several instant loan apps have ties to China and run extortion scams that trap and humiliate borrowers across India and 14 other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As a result of this extortion, at least 60 people were abused, threatened and took their own lives. BBC This was revealed during an undercover investigation. The report exposes those profiting from these scams in India and China.
Those who have lost their lives to harassment from these apps are primarily in their 20s and 30s, including an award-winning musician, a firefighter, a young mother, a father of two daughters, a grandfather and grandson, and four teenagers. This included young people.
of BBC Most victims reported being too embarrassed to talk about the loan.
In the 43 minute documentary, BBC We reveal how these apps work and how they have disrupted lives across India.
Bhumi Sinha took out a loan of about 50 million yen. INR2000000
Bhumi Sinha, a widow and real estate lawyer based in Mumbai, was deeply in debt. INRI borrowed 47,000 yen from various loan apps in 2021 as I was waiting for my work to be paid. The money arrived almost instantly, but most of it was deducted as fees. About a week later, she was asked to repay, but her expenses were not paid. So she ended up borrowing money from another app.
The debt and interest continued to grow until Mr. Sinha was in debt. INR$2 million in app loans.
Mr. Sinha was reeling from months of intimidation and psychological torture. As her debts mounted, she started receiving calls from collection agencies.
The phone call was offensive and accused Mr Sinha of insults and abuse. Even after Sinha paid the loan, he was accused of lying because he was receiving more than 200 calls a day.
Call center agents weren’t alone. Her abuse escalated and they knew where she lived and sent her a photo of her dead body as a warning. Not only that, they also threatened to send messages to her contact list of 486 numbers, calling her a “thief” and a “prostitute.” They even threatened to damage her daughter’s reputation.
Sinha then borrowed a total of 69 money from family, friends and several other apps. Even after paying off all the debts, the calls, especially from Asan Loan, did not stop. They sent heavily Photoshopped naked pornographic pictures of her to all of Sinha’s contacts. This photo was sent to lawyers, senior citizens, neighbors, architects, government officials, and several others who would never look at her the same way.
she said BBC“That message actually stripped me naked in front of the whole world. I lost my self-respect, my morals, my dignity, everything in an instant. Like a piece of broken glass that is glued together but still has a crack. , you have defiled my core. As of today, I have no friends.”
24-year-old civil servant who took his own life
Kirni Monika is a 24-year-old civil servant who borrowed money from 55 loan apps.What started as INRA loan of 10,000 has now more than tripled.When Monica took her life, she finished paying her off. INR3,00,000.
The loan app began harassing her, threatening her, and messaging her contacts.
Monica was the only student at her school to get a government job. Monica, the younger sister of her three nuisances, said that on the day she took her life three years ago, she went to work as usual.
Her father was a successful farmer and was prepared to fund her master’s degree in Australia.
After she died, her phone rang and her father answered. “We told them she was dead.”
her father said BBC“Arranging the money could have been easy.”
How to use?
Among the hundreds of applications that offer hassle-free loans to individuals, there are some that are predatory. Once downloaded, these apps take control of the user’s phone contacts and photos, as well as their ID card, and use them to extort the borrower.
When customers don’t repay their loans on time, or in some cases even after payment, these apps share that information with call centers, who use their devices to harass and humiliate people to get their loans back. I will make you pay it back. BBC stated in the report.
Debt collection agent BBC To clarify how it worked. He gained the trust of Vishal Chaurasia, the manager of Callflex (the company hired to collect the debt), and approached him.
Shaurasia said that when someone takes out a loan, the app gives Callflex Corporation access to their cell phone contacts, and if the borrower misses a payment, the company begins harassing the borrower and then contacts them. He revealed that he had started harassing her earlier. He said employees can say anything to customers as long as they get their loans repaid.
“The customer pays out of embarrassment. In his contact list you will find at least one person who can ruin his life,” Shaurasia said.
Possible connection with China
Another call center agent who worked on loan recovery for another organization said: BBC The administrator allegedly instructed staff to abuse and threaten people, and claimed he had not made any such threats. “Everyone has a reputation to maintain in front of their families. No one will ruin that reputation for a measly amount of Rs 5,000.”
He said once the payment was completed he would move on to the next customer. Soon, several clients began threatening to take their lives, but none of the agents took them seriously. When the suicide started, they called his boss Parshuram Takve for advice.
Takve had a ruthless reputation and said he would “do what he is told and recover.”
But Takve wasn’t operating alone. According to the person in charge, the software’s interface suddenly switches to Chinese while it is running. Takve married a Chinese woman, Liang Tian Tian, and started a loan recovery business called Jiyaliang in Pune. In December 2020, the two were arrested for harassment, and in 2022 they were charged with extortion, intimidation, and abetting suicide. They are currently on the run.
If you look into the duo, BBC They contacted Li Xiang, a Chinese businessman who operated loan apps in India, Mexico and Colombia, posing as an investor. “We are still operating, but we are just not letting Indians know that we are a Chinese company,” he told them.
In 2021, Lee’s company was raided by Indian police investigating harassment by loan apps, and his account was suspended.
“You must understand that we of course do not pay local taxes as we aim to quickly recover our investment and the interest rates we offer violate local laws. ”
Mr Lee claimed that he has more than 3,000 staff providing post-loan services across multiple companies in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Explaining how it works, he said, “If you don’t repay, we may add you to WhatsApp. On the third day, we will call and message you on WhatsApp at the same time and also call your contacts.” Then, if your contact does not pay on the fourth day, you will have specific detailed instructions. We access his call records and collect a lot of information. Basically, it’s like he’s naked in front of us. ”