Man arrested for loan app scam; nat'l racket exposed

Pune: A 29-year-old Vashi resident has been arrested by Pimpri Chinchwad police in connection with cheating and blackmailing people via fake loan apps , which he allegedly executed on instructions of handlers based in Singapore. The arrest throws open a pan-India loan fraud scam.

Accused Isaki Thevar , a loan recovery agent, has been duping people through at least eight fake loan apps, police officers told TOI, adding that at least 10,000 complaints have been registered against the apps across the country.

Investigations revealed that the suspects used Pakistani cellphone numbers to cheat several people.

A Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police team led by senior inspector Ravikiran Nale arrested Thevar last week from Mumbai. Five laptops, seven SIM cards, and a mobile handset have been recovered from him.

Assistant police inspector Pravin Swami of cyber police said, "Thevar helped handlers obtain permissions to operate these apps by uploading fake documents, like forged approvals from RBI." He said handlers from Singapore sent links for apps to contact numbers in India and access people's phones. TNN