A 25-year-old woman from Jogeshwari West, Mumbai, was blackmailed and harassed after taking a small loan from a mobile application. Her altered nude photo was sent to her relatives and acquaintances by a person pretending to be from the lending company.
The woman had seen an advertisement for a mobile app called "Cash Loan" on Instagram. On July 20, she downloaded the app and entered her personal details, including her Aadhaar number and bank account information, to apply for an INR 2,000 loan.
She was granted only INR 1,300 for a short period of six days. Even before the loan period was over, she started receiving threatening calls. The caller, who claimed to represent the loan app company, told her that her nude photos would be shared online if she failed to repay the loan immediately.
Fearing the threats, she transferred INR 1,000 twice to a person named Sandesh Kumar through a payment application. But soon after, her aunt received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. The message contained a morphed, nude image of the woman.
Later, the same photo was sent to two of the woman’s acquaintances. Frightened and unsure of what to do, she informed her father. He then approached the local police. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered. Police have started an investigation. There is no confirmation yet of any arrests.