Man extorts money from Chinese loan app users, held

Gurgaon: A man was arrested in Sector 24 on Saturday for allegedly issuing threats and extorting money from people who had taken loans through a Chinese app.
The accused — identified as Deepak Yadav from Rewari — got a list of names and numbers of targets who had taken loans from a person on Telegram, police said. He would then make the calls to extort the money.The accused would get a commission on the amount of money he managed to extort.
During interrogation, police found that Yadav was working on behalf of cyber fraudsters operating from outside the country for the past three months.
"Yadav had been receiving names and mobile numbers on Telegram of people who had taken loans through a Chinese app. He would then call these individuals, threaten them, and extort money. In return, he received a commission based on the amount extorted. After receiving the money, he would block the victims' mobile numbers. The police team which arrested him recovered a mobile phone and a SIM card from his possession," said ACP (cybercrime) Priyanshu Diwan.
Police zeroed in on Yadav while probing a case recently registered at Cyber (east) police station under section 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property) of the BNS.
In 2021, several people committed suicide across the country following continuous bullying by recovery agents of similar Chinese loan apps. The apps collect personal data of users such as their names, address, mobile numbers, all phone contact details, as well as access their photos and videos through the phones on which they are downloaded. This data is then used to bully and threaten the victims into paying large amounts of money.
The masterminds of these apps are mostly based in China, who employ locals to threaten people to upload their personal or morphed photos and videos on social media and send them to relatives as well if they failed to make the payment.
City police had busted a call centre in 2021 operating in Gurgaon which was extorting money from users of one such app. The app was providing small loans of Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 for a short term and deducted service charges as well as interest of Rs 600 to Rs 1,200.
While applying for loans, the app users downloaded it from Google Play Store and provided details like email ID, name, address, and PAN and Aadhaar details. The accused, through the app, also collected personal data such as SMSes, location, data from phone storage, calendar, photos and videos. They used this data to put pressure on the borrowers if they delayed repaying loans.