FIA arrests nine suspects in crackdown against predatory loan apps

FIA says separate department dealing with 'torture calls' being run in the said offices

ISLAMABAD:

The Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday said that it had arrested nine suspects for allegedly blackmailing people through predatory online loan apps.

According to the spokesperson of the agency, the raids were conducted in the Saidpur Road area and cases were also registered against 19 other suspects.

During the raid, Inspector Badar Munir sealed different offices of the company located in a commercial plaza.

According to the statement, the suspects were given a target of making around 100 to 150 calls on a daily basis to those who had used the apps, their friends and families.

Read Man driven to suicide by predatory lending app, says family

The statement added that there were separate departments dealing with “torture calls” in the said offices.

“Each section was assigned separate tasks with regard to making calls. There were sections named D-0, D-1, D-2, DS-1, DS-2 and DS-3,” the statement added.

It further said that the personal data of the citizens was accessed through the said loan apps which was later on used to harass the affected citizens.

The FIA recovered a large number of documents, computers, laptops and SIMs during the raid.

The investigation agency added that the suspects have been arrested and an investigation has been initiated, adding that raids are being conducted to nab other suspects.

On the other hand, the issue of blackmailing citizens through online loan apps also came to light in Karachi where an affected citizen complained to FIA Cybercrime Karachi. However, no action has been taken yet.

Read more FIA raids loan app office over ‘debt-driven suicide’

Debt-ridden man suicides

The development comes as the FIA initiated a probe after debt-stricken Muhammad Masood, 42, committed suicide earlier this week after being pressurised and blackmailed by the app employees into returning the borrowed money with high interest.

He had taken an initial loan of Rs13,000 but missed deadlines and the sky-hit interest meant that he owed two lenders more than Rs700,000.

The accused had been threatening to leak personal data from the cell phone of Muhammad Masood who narrated the story of the app employees’ blackmailing in his last message.

In it, he mentioned the pressure to pay the interest and loan amount as he was being threatened and blackmailed by personnel of the online loan app.

The three-member FIA team also took the mobile phone of the victim and also reviewed his emails, including the correspondence with the digital lender. They also recorded the statements of the deceased's wife and brother.