“It requires the attention of the central government to ensure that these apps are not allowed on the Play Store or any other platform. Mumbai cops said they will be able to give the exact figure at the time of filing the charge sheet. The Delhi police, which has arrested 22 people so far in connection with its investigation, recently said that the fraud could be more than Rs 5,000 crore. Scam bigger than expectedĪmid investigations by the police in multiple states, city cops said that the loan app scam appears to be much bigger than it was initially estimated. “We are in the process of informing social media platforms to block such pages promoting loans and engaging in other cyber frauds, and some influencers who have been sharing links to these loan app sites to promote them on their pages are also on our radar,” said the officer. Not just Play Store, the Chinese kingpins are also promoting the dodgy loan apps on social media platforms through advertisements. About 99 per cent of illegal digital lending apps having a China link are functioning through the Play Store, and despite multiple reminders and requests made to Google about these apps, there is a lack of cooperation from Google,” a senior officer from Maharashtra police. “Google should verify these details with Indian authorities before allowing them to run on their platform, which is not happening. As per the norms of the Reserve Bank of India, NBFCs that are into digital lending have to declare their details to the RBI and the info is available on the central bank’s website. The police have also asked Google to share the process it followed in letting apps that engage in illegal digital lending, which is not permitted under RBI rules, on the Play Store. The tech giant is not taking proper details of these apps while allowing them to run on its platform,” said an officer, requesting anonymity. “It appears that KYC was not done properly and only an email ID was provided, which had a server in China. Sources said Mumbai Cyber Cell and Maharashtra Cyber, a nodal agency, have asked Google to share the KYC details of over 500 loan apps. Also, it has come to our notice that similar email IDs were used in uploading multiple apps on the Play Store,” said an officer. “We have also noticed that some apps removed earlier have resurfaced on the Play Store. Putting cold water on the efforts of Indian agencies, the Cyber Cell officers said, scores of dubious apps sneaked past Google Play Store’s filters. Investigators from the Cyber Cell said Indian agencies worked hard.Ĭops want loan apps to strictly adhere to KYC norms. Reports said Saikat Mitra, senior director, and head of trust and safety at Google Asia-Pacific, claimed they banned scores of apps after a combination of policy violations, user reports, and collaboration with various law enforcement agencies and policy bodies. Instead, it is allowing them to function by charging just 25 dollars for each app,” said a cyber cop.Īlso Read: Mumbai: Missing autistic teen found in nullah “Google is not verifying the details of these apps. Officers investigating the multi-crore mobile loan app scam, in which recovery agents extorted money loan app borrowers by abusing and blackmailing them, said the Chinese crooks have got over 1,100 new instant loan apps on Google Play Store. A screenshot of a search for loan apps on Play Store.
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