The operation of over 70 illegal money lending apps that were used by anonymous operators to steal personal data from borrowers and blackmail them in case of deferred payments has been taken down by the Kerala Police Cyber wing.
These illegal apps, earlier available on Google Play store, have looted many underprivileged families that looked for easy loans with minimal formalities.
A few more suspicious apps involved in the illegal financial business have also been identified for removal. Probe is still under way to zero in on suspected operators behind the trade who are accused of abetting unnatural death of some of the borrowers from Kerala.
Police sources reveal that the operators behind the apps have managed to cheat hundreds of people in the State using quick loans and job opportunities as bait. There are many who lost their money by clicking spam links and responding to deceptive internet calls. Even social media pages and instant messaging apps were used to support the online plundering that made its entry during COVID-19.
In Kozhikode district alone, there are 70 registered cases. Figures available with the Kozhikode City and Rural police stations reveal that there are about 300 persons who have sought the help of the police to recover their lost money. Though money has been retrieved in some of the cases, the suspects are still at large.
Officers with the Hi-tech enquiry cell say the tracking of fraudsters who operate from foreign countries will not be a cakewalk though efforts are in full swing with the cooperation of international investigation agencies. According to them, the money lost through such online financial frauds within the last five years comes around ₹1 crore.
With the opening of a special State-level helpline for registering complaints, there is an increase in the number of registered cases. Now, the helpline – 9497980900 – is used to quickly file complaints in the form of voice messages, photos, texts, and videos. The helpline of the Cyber police, 1930, is also available 24x7.
Some of the complainants have also sought action from the cyber cell to stop illegal gaming apps that were reportedly extorting money from youngsters. However, the complaints in black and white with evidence of extortion will be crucial for the police to remove such apps from the virtual space.
Noticing the rising number of complaints, a team of ethical hackers is also at work to clean up cyberspace. Some of them are now working in association with the Kerala Police Cyberdome to strengthen the cyber patrol and speed up online action against the identified fraudsters.
