Loan sharks morph SoBo resident’s WhatsApp DP to harass him

A 34-year-old Nepean Sea Road resident fell victim to a loan app scam and was harassed by lenders who morphed his WhatsApp display photo (DP) and circulated it among his relatives. The complainant approached the police to register a complaint and stated that he was harassed despite having paid the loan.

The police said the complainant runs a catering business. On May 3, he received a text message, prompting him to click on a link if he had a loan requirement. As he was in need of some money, he opened the link and shared his identity, bank account details and photograph. He was then directed to a loan application.

The next day, he received Rs 8,800 in his bank account through four different transactions of Rs 2,200 each. The loan was granted for a period of eight days. On May 10, he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number demanding payment, the police said.

The caller shared a payment link through which the complainant paid Rs 10,720. However, he started receiving calls from unknown numbers, threatening him to make the loan payment. The accused also misused the WhatsApp display photograph of the complainant along with his son, cropped it and edited it with objectionable comments and sent it to his relatives.

He approached the police and registered a criminal complaint on Wednesday, while also providing seven mobile numbers from which he had been receiving threatening calls. The police have registered a case for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, punishment for identity theft and punishment for cheating by personation by using a computer resource.