‘Ah Long’ offering loans via handphone applications
KUALA LUMPUR: ‘Ah Long’ or loan shark syndicates have resorted to using handphone applications to offer loans and tap borrowers’ personal data, police said yesterday.
Bukit Aman Commercial CID chief Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said police had received three reports from people who borrowed money through the apps and ended up receiving threats and having their photographs and personal data abused for failing to settle their loans.
He said the borrowers using the application did not realise that they had given permission to the syndicates to access the data available in their cellphones, such as photographs and telephone numbers of their contacts.
“The syndicates will contact the borrowers’ families or friends to threaten them should they fail to make payments. Most borrowers did not read the conditions attached (when applying for loans) and gave their consent so that they could use the app,” he told a press conference here.
Mohd Kamarudin said police had launched a nationwide operation dubbed ‘Ops Vulture’ on July 2, which resulted in the crippling of 14 illegal moneylending syndicates in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak.
He said in the latest raids on Tuesday and Wednesday, 84 people, aged 20 to 59, were arrested for suspected involvement with the syndicates.
Investigations found that the syndicates had been operating since 2018 by advertising loans on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and WeChat, he said.
“They target traders, government servants and private sector employees, charging interest rates ranging from 10 to 15 per cent per week.
“The syndicates would also conspire to contact borrowers who failed to make repayments to offer them new loans to settle the
previous ones,” he said.
He said this would tie down borrowers with contracts and force them to make multiple payments with recurring interest.
Several of the suspects were found to have criminal records, including for drug offences, he said.
In the first six months of this year, police had received 508 complaints from victims who were harassed by ‘Ah Long’ syndicates over loans amounting to RM2.5 million, he said.
He said 508 syndicate members were arrested during this period. — Bernama
The syndicates will contact the borrowers’ families or friends to threaten them should they fail to make payments. Most borrowers did not read the conditions attached (when applying for loans) and gave their consent so that they could use the app.
Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din