Delhi Police bust gang that used loan apps for extortion, sent victim's personal data to China

Delhi Police apprehended at least 22 people linked to an extortion gang who allegedly lured people into fake loan schemes and used their personal data which they later sentto their associates in China.

The cyber cell of Delhi Police reportedly found at least a hundred fake loan apps involved in extortion. Reports say the Lucknow-based gang extortedmillions as ittransferred money through cryptocurrency and hawala.

The ganguploaded applications to grant small loans. After a person gave out his details, the gang members would call them from fake IDs threatening to expose applicants by uploading morphed nude pictures on the internet, police said.

The apps were hosted on Google Playstore and other websites and the money was deposited in fraudulent bank accounts. Officials said the contact list and call logs were uploaded onservers based in China and Hong Kong. The men used multiple fake accounts to transfer money. Several people filed complaints with Delhi Police to investigate the fake loan apps following which officials launched investigation.

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Police said the victims were lured with loans of up to $200 to $250and then forced to pay thousands of dollars. The police also reportedly received reports of suicide cases linked to the scam.

The police conducted raids across Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Karnataka with their network spread across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states. The police said the main accused were Supreet K Shetty and Navneet Kumar Bhati, who reportedly studied in China.

The police recovered a large number of mobile phones, hard disks, laptops and credit cards during the raids. Police said the gang members were also involved in shifting their call centres to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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