MUMBAI: A 38-year-old finance consultant from Andheri had to face embarrassment after objectionable photos of his were sent to his friends and family members, including his father on Saturday. The man has claimed that the images have been doctored by morphing his mugshot and superimposing it in the visuals.
In his complaint lodged at MIDC police statopm, the man has accused an unidentified person who claimed to be from an app that gives out loans without any collaterals and has said that his phone had been hacked into to procure his data.
The police have said that such cases are on the rise where apps lure them with loans without having to furnish any collateral security. The loans come at a high interest rate, said police sources. If a person is unable to repay, people associated with the app arm-twist the borrower by using threats, tarnishing the person’s image like it was done in the current case. What the phone user is unaware of is that by downloading the app, all personal data is accessible to the external entity.
In the financial consultant’s case, he got a call and a WhatsApp message on April 5 demanding repayment of a bank loan taken through the app although the man claims he never availed of any.
“The sender of the message had stolen his phone data and was using it to defame the man,” said an officer.
The cyber team is tracking the person who had sent the morphed images through three cellphone numbers to the financial consultant and to his contacts.
A police team will now collect information from the said app — Crazy Cash Loan — from whom the consultant has said he had received a call and message, demanding repayment of the loan.
On Saturday, objectionable photos with his face were sent to his contacts. “I got calls from friends and my father, asking about the objectionable photo with my face,” the consultant said.
