CHENNAI: Loan app scamsters allegedly threatened an 18-year-old government arts college student of morphing her photos if she did not pay them. The victim filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Portal after personnel in two police stations allegedly refused to file her complaint.
The victim, Shruthy (name changed), told TNIE that she was looking to avail a loan when she clicked on a WhatsApp link, which led her to a mobile app. “After updating my Aadhaar and PAN details, I was asked Rs 1,000 as an initial payment, following which I uninstalled the application. However, the scamsters continued to send WhatsApp messages asking me to pay Rs 3,000 and threatened to send my morphed photos to everyone in the contact list. Though I paid Rs 1,000, they kept on asking for more money.”
The girl initially approached Perambur and Otteri police stations to lodge a complaint against the loan app but was turned down. Later, she registered a complaint on the National Cybercrime portal.
Another woman, who currently works in Bengaluru, told TNIE that she was subjected to a similar ordeal after attempting to avail of a loan through an unverified link. Scammers who accessed her contact list threatened to send her morphed photos to all of them.