Have loan sharks in Nepal become active again?

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A 32-year-old Dahisar resident is the latest victim of the loan app racket. Once again, a Nepal link has surfaced in the matter. mid-day had done a series of reports from Kathmandu last year, exposing the role of Chinese loan sharks, setting up call centres there to harass Indian borrowers.

In the latest incident, a Dahisar resident clicked on an unknown link, which led him to a loan app called Smart Wallet. Lured by the idea of getting a loan on easy installments, he shared his personal details on the app. Soon after, he started getting threatening calls from recovery agents. His photos were also morphed and shared to numbers on his phone contact list. Matters went out of hand, when the victim's father-in-law received morphed naked images of him on WhatsApp. The victim then registered a complaint with the Dahisar Police.

Also read: Dadar doctor loses Rs 1.5 lakh to conmen

As per the statement given to the police, the man availed a loan of Rs 1,03,200 on April 14. Within seven days, he was asked to repay an amount of R1,04,500. While he managed to do so with the help of his relatives and friend, he continued to receive threatening calls and messages from various mobile numbers traced to Nepal. "We have registered a case under various sections of the IPC, and IT Act," an official said.