The dark world of illegal loan apps in India | This is how extreme poverty is eradicated

[Rescuer7]

Borrowers are harassed by reps of lending apps who abuse, threaten and blackmail them by accessing their contacts, pics.

Many Indians lost their jobs during the pandemic and turned to predatory loan apps [File: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP]

By Anil Kumar Tiwari

Published On 25 Dec 202325 Dec 2023

 

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On August 12, a family in the central Indian city of Bhopal took a selfie in their home. After the photo, the father, Bhupendra Vishwakarma, gave his two sons, eight and three years old, a poisoned drink, and he and his wife took their lives by hanging themselves.

In his four-page suicide note, Vishwakarma, 35, who worked in an insurance firm, wrote that he was trapped in a cycle of debt from loan apps. Recovery agents had been tormenting him for months and the last message he received from them tipped him over the edge.

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It said, “Tell him to repay the loan; otherwise, today I will strip him naked and upload it on social media.”

In his suicide note, Vishwakarma said, “Today, the situation has reached the point of losing my job as well. I can’t see a future for myself and my family. I am no longer worthy of showing my face to anyone. How will I face my family?”

Police have arrested five people involved in the scam so far even as the investigation continues.

Vishwakarma’s story is not unique. Shivani Rawat, a 23-year-old college receptionist in Delhi, faced her own ordeal. In June 2023, she applied for a 4,000 rupee ($48) loan through an app called “Kreditbe”, since her salary was delayed. Her loan request remained pending, with no funds received. Yet, within a week, she began receiving 10-15 calls demanding 9,000 rupees ($108) for repayment.

Rawat said she told the recovery agents that she hadn’t received any money in her account, “but they started using abusive language. When I stopped answering their calls, they began sending me abusive texts.”

In August, her colleagues received manipulated explicit photos of her and her family that had been sent by representatives of Kreditbe. She tried to explain the situation to her coworkers, but the next day, her manager asked her to resign because her presence made others uncomfortable.

 

“After losing my job, I became so depressed that I even had thoughts of ending my life,” Rawat admitted.

Al Jazeera tried reaching out to Kreditbe for a comment but there was no information available on the firm and none of the representatives who had been in touch with Rawat were available any more.

Bhupendra Vishwakarma took a selfie with his family before he died by suicide [Anil Kumar Tiwari/Al Jazeera]

Kreditbe’s name is a rip-off of a legitimate loan app called KreditBee, a common modus operandi for these illegal loan apps which often choose names similar to reputable brands to create a sense of authenticity.😂

[Kreole_]

Article lo matter enti, nuvvu pettina smiley enti va end lo, I hope it is a typo. 

Orey sunta @Telugodura456 mee chinki gallavey motham lending apps mafia antha, veeti goppalu kooda cheppu.

[nag]

8 hours ago, Rescuer7 said:

gan receiving

Why govt is going blind on these illegal loan apps? Many people died so far because of these illegal loan apps. I know (personally)  a guy in India who killed himself by sleeping on the rail tracks to get run over by a train.

These guys blackmailed him by circulating nude pics of him (morphed) which he couldn't take. He was the only son of his parents.

Inka entha mandhini champthuru ra ... dorkuthaamu anna bhayam ledha veellaki ?

[Telugodura456]

11 hours ago, Kreole_ said:

Article lo matter enti, nuvvu pettina smiley enti va end lo, I hope it is a typo. 

Orey sunta @Telugodura456 mee chinki gallavey motham lending apps mafia antha, veeti goppalu kooda cheppu.

evidence undha ..utthine norupaaresukuntunnava ..google chesthe kreditbee is made by FINNOVATION TECH SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED ani undhi. Directors Madhusudan Ekambaram and Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy anta

[Kreole_]

4 minutes ago, Telugodura456 said:

evidence undha ..utthine norupaaresukuntunnava ..google chesthe kreditbee is made by FINNOVATION TECH SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED ani undhi. Directors Madhusudan Ekambaram and Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy anta

First time vintunnava mee vaalla talent gurinchi ee vishayam lo? These are all Chinese loan sharks with Indian collaborators. The above folks are just for the records. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/fintech/digital-chinese-loansharks-spreading-wings-in-india/93128034

[Telugodura456]

2 minutes ago, Kreole_ said:

First time vintunnava mee vaalla talent gurinchi ee vishayam lo? These are all Chinese loan sharks with Indian collaborators. The above folks are just for the records. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/fintech/digital-chinese-loansharks-spreading-wings-in-india/93128034

mana media yentha nizam o yentha hype evariki thelidhu. Kaani nuvvu share chesina article lo ne undhi - they are ethnic chinese from cambodia ani :

"Cambodia by organised crime groups based in and around Sihanoukville.

Th ..
 

Read more at:
https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/fintech/digital-chinese-loansharks-spreading-wings-in-india/93128034"

 

Chinese does not mean from china. Chinese origin singapore lo unnaru, indonesia lo unnaru, america lo unnaru. Infact china itself took a very severe action on cambodian mafia. Biggest victims of this mafia are chinese themselves.

 

[Kreole_]

Hmm, I know Chinese origin people are everywhere, this is not the only case. Do a search on Chinese loan sharks in India, bunch of incidents vasthayi, even BBC had an article on this recently.