Representative image of online scam.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: A lecturer of a college in Bengaluru was threatened and harassed for nearly three months and his morphed explicit photographs and videos were sent to a few of his contacts after he availed a loan through two instant loan apps.
DH learnt that Karunakar Prasad (name changed) paid the loan agents Rs 5.69 lakh for availing a loan of Rs 56,550.
Due to personal commitments, Prasad needed some money and on October 27, 2023, he downloaded Digital Bank and Money Pocket through links on Facebook after one of his friends suggested he use instant loan apps.
On October 27, 2023, and November 2, 2023, Prasad used the two apps and received Rs 37,700 – in equal installments of Rs 18,850 each – in his bank account.
"All I had to do was give them my Aadhaar and PAN details,” Prasad told DH. "I also approved the access prompts for files and contacts on the apps.”
What attracted Prasad were the low interest rate — 0.7 per cent — and the 120-day repayment period.
On October 29, Prasad received the first call and he paid Rs 10,150 after the agent asked him for the initial repayment. However, on December 3, 2023, another Rs 18,850 was credited to his bank account without him raising a request. His debt rose to Rs 56,550.
Since then, Prasad began receiving “harassing calls” daily. “I had no other option,” Prasad rued. “They said that they would morph my image into explicit photographs and videos and send them to my contacts. I borrowed money from my friends and acquaintances to pay them.”
Prasad received calls from seven numbers with different country codes (Nepal, Kenya, Pakistan and India).
A senior police officer said: "Scammers use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to make calls. The delayed response from providers — sometimes they don't even respond — causes problems to trace the source."
Morphed photos, videos
Prasad, who is married, said that two of his friends and staff from his college received the morphed video.
"I explained to them my condition and they understood, but I don’t know who else received it,” he said. "A week ago one of the agents called a woman colleague. She created an issue the day before yesterday, which led to an embarrassment for me and the management was notified. I have been teaching here for 11 years and there was no single black mark on my character.”
"One of my friends had filed a complaint with the cybercrime helpline 20 days ago," he added. "The calls had stopped for 10 days but began again."
A case was registered on January 25, 2024, under the IT Act and investigations are on.
Use of abusive language
The loan agents who contacted Prasad were all men and they spoke in Hindi and used abusive language.
“Tumhara naseeb kharab kar denge. Humen kuch nahi malum. Paisa bhej do (We will spoil your life. We don't know anything. Send us the money),” a loan app agent was quoted as saying by Prasad.
"I received a call even on Saturday morning,” he added. “I have blocked some numbers but the calls persist.”