Trio land in cyber police net for loan app fraud

The cybercrime wing of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police has unearthed a loan app fraud operated by a three-member gang from Bhayandar. Notably, the team managed to arrest the trio within 48 hours after they tried to extort money and blackmail a woman from Naigaon.

The complainant stated that she got a credit of Rs 1,365 from the loan app operators without her consent and when she offered to send back the amount, they started demanding astronomical amounts towards interest. The app operators even threatened to circulate morphed nude images of her on social media, if she failed to fulfil their demands.

Following a complaint by the woman at the Valiv police station on September 13, the cybercrime team, led by police inspector Sujitkumar Gunjkar and police sub-inspector Prasad Shenolkar swung into action. The money trails of the purported transaction were found and it was discovered that the funds were being moved to a current account in the name of the firm. Further investigations led to the arrest of three suspects – Narmesh Sukhadiya, 25, Arun Kaapkar, 27, and Rajesh Vishwakarma, 27.

An offence under sections 354, 384 of the Indian Penal Code, for outraging the modesty of a woman and extortion, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act has been registered against the trio who have been handed over to the Valiv police station for further investigations. The police have not ruled out the trio's involvement in more such offences.

The MBVV police have urged people to verify whether the lender is registered with the RBI and to check the credentials before downloading any digital lending app. They have also instructed citizens to refrain from allowing permissions to such shady applications. Citizens can approach the local police station, log in to www.cybercrime.gov.in, or call the cybercrime cell on 1930 to report any type of online fraud.

The woman was being forced to pay astronomical amounts towards interest