Crime in Mumbai: How cyber conmen drive their victims into debt

Cyber scammers are conning victims into taking loans they never applied for, using tactics like fake investments and digital blackmail

MUMBAI: Cyber scammers have found a new way to con people – saddling them with loans they never took. Police said the fraudsters sometimes lure their victims with the promise of massive profits, blackmail them via digital arrests and other means, or gain access to their victims’ phones remotely via software applications. They proceed to use the sensitive information they glean to take personal loans in their victims’ names and get their victims to transfer the money into their accounts.

Cyber scammers have found a new way to con people – saddling them with loans they never took. (iStock)

Among their victims was a 20-year-old woman from Kurla, whose father runs a taxi and brothers do small-time work. She lost ₹20 lakh, while a South-Mumbai professor lost ₹16 lakh, to cyber criminals using this modus operandi.

Police with the Cyber Crime Cell said the Kurla woman fell prey to an advertisement on social media, which promised handsome returns for investing in the stock market through an app. As the app showed her alleged profits rise, she kept making additional investments by taking a personal loan, borrowing money from relatives, and even mortgaging the family’s Kurla home.

When her profits hit ₹2 crore, the woman indicated that she wanted to withdraw the money. She was told she could do that only after her investment hit ₹20 lakh. When the fraudsters demanded more and more money, the woman approached the police.

In another case, a professor in her ’40s had been making the rounds of the Reserve Bank of India and her local bank. Soon, she received a call, claiming that her documents like her Aadhar Card and PAN card had been used by terrorists to launder money. The fraudsters, on a Skype call, claimed to be Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, who told the frightened woman to send them her documents so that they could verify them. She also shared screenshots of her net banking account, when the fraudsters said they wanted to make sure she was not lying, or else they would arrest her.

Using her documents, the scamsters took a personal loan in the woman’s name. When ₹15 lakhs was transferred to her bank account, she was told it was laundered money and should immediately transfer it to the “government” for investigation. They also pressured her to transfer ₹3 lakh of her own savings and kept demanding more money to get rid of the alleged investigation.

Police said cyber fraudsters are using ‘digital arrest’ and ‘courier frauds’ to manipulate victims, where the latter knowingly or unknowingly part with banking details. In a couple of recent cases, the fraudsters used the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, to allegedly complete the victims’ KYC or redeem points from credit cards used.

This process invariably involves a software application – an Android Application Package (APK) – that the victim is told to download. The fraudsters proceed to hack the victims’ cell phone and access sensitive banking details stored in the device. This allows the fraudsters to secure a personal loan n the victims’ names, which is then transferred to the scamsters under duress.

“Recently, the fraudsters took a loan of ₹15 lakh in the name of a small-time businessman from Dadar, who was told to download an app to pay his electricity bill, or face disconnection. The victim has no option now but now to pay the EMIs on this fraudulent loan,” said a police officer with the Cyber Crime Cell.

Police said cases involving loans being taken in their victims’ names are on the rise and have been reported not only in the city but from rural areas as well in the state. Various banks and financial institutions, including the Reserve Bank of India, have been warning citizens against downloading unknown software apps. Prime Minister Narendra Modi via his radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’ recently cautioned citizens about digital arrests, saying it is not legal in India.

DCP Datta Nalawade of the Mumbai Crime Branch said citizens should always verify the identity of callers claiming to be government officials. They should use only trusted apps from official online stores, enable two-factor authentication, and update passwords regularly. “Avoid sharing sensitive information over calls or messages, clicking on unknown links, or downloading apps you are unsure of. Do not transfer money to unknown accounts under pressure, and never allow remote access to your device without verification,” he said.