Instant Loan
Delhi Police busts gang running Chinese instant loan racket; operatives sent user data, Rs 500 cr to China
Delhi Police has busted a Rs 500 crore extortion-cum-instant loan racket operated by Chinese nationals and arrested 22 people from across India, media reports said.
The network was spread across Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and other states, police officials said.
How the racket worked
The extorters ran the racket from a call centre based out of Lucknow, according to police.
Once the user downloaded the app and gave permission to access their data on phone, the loan amount would be credited to their account within minutes.
This was also the way, the gang would trap them.
They would start calling the borrowers from different phone numbers that were procured on fake IDs, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) KPS Malhotra said, reported NDTV.
The gang would threaten the users that their morphed nude images would be uploaded on the Internet if they did not fulfill their demands, he added.
Due to social stigma and fear, people used to pay the money, which was later sent to China through hawala or after purchasing cryptocurrencies, the top police official said.
The gang opened multiple bank accounts and each account received at least Rs 1 crore every day.
The apps used to extort money in this way have been identified as Cash Port, Rupee Way, Loan Cube, Wow Rupee, Smart Wallet, Giant Wallet, Hi Rupee, Swift Rupee, Walletwin, Fishclub, Yeahcash, Im Loan, Growtree, Magic Balance, Yocash, Fortune Tree, Supercoin, Red Magic.
Police Action
At least 51 mobile phones, 25 hard disks, nine laptops, 19 debit cards/credit cards and three Cars and Rs 4 lakh cash were recovered by the police.
During interrogation, the arrested members of the gang told police that the racket was run at the behest of Chinese nationals.
So far, the Chinese nationals have siphoned off Rs 500 crore.
Police have identified some Chinese nationals behind the racket and efforts are being made to trace and arrest them.
After the crackdown, the operatives have been shifting their call centres to Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
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