Hyderabad, November 1, 2025 – With 12 cases of loan frauds already registered this year, Hyderabad police on Saturday issued a stark warning to citizens, urging utmost vigilance against predatory digital loan schemes that have ensnared victims through deceptive apps and relentless harassment tactics.
The advisory, released by the Central Crime Station (CCS), Detective Department (DD), highlights a troubling escalation: from five cases in 2023 and eight in 2024, the number has jumped to 12 in 2025 alone, totaling 25 incidents over the past three years. "Citizens must exercise caution in any interaction involving loans or financial advances," the police statement emphasized, pointing to fraudsters' sophisticated use of technology to exploit desperate borrowers.
At the heart of these scams are instant loan apps like Safefastmoney.com, Credit Insight, and Loan Radar, which lure users with promises of quick cash and easy approvals. Once hooked, victims face exorbitant interest rates—often exceeding 100% annually—and a barrage of coercive recovery methods. Fraudsters, frequently operating from call centers in Hindi-speaking regions, impersonate legitimate lenders such as banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), or cooperative societies. They demand upfront "processing fees" or "account activation charges" ranging from a few thousand to lakhs of rupees, only to vanish without disbursing the promised funds.
In more insidious cases, scammers collect sensitive personal data like PAN cards, Aadhaar details, bank credentials, and even OTPs under the guise of e-KYC verification. This information is then weaponized for identity theft or unauthorized loans in the victim's name. One recent incident involved a 45-year-old man from Marredpally who lost over ₹13 lakh after fraudsters approved a ₹12.5 lakh loan in his name and siphoned the funds to their accounts, plus an additional ₹50,700 from his current account. The breach was likely enabled by malicious apps or colluding insiders, underscoring the risks of unverified downloads.
Harassment tactics have added a layer of psychological terror. Two fresh complaints filed with Cyberabad cyber crime police in September 2025 paint a grim picture. A 35-year-old private company employee from Hydernagar borrowed ₹22 lakh across multiple apps between September 2024 and April 2025 but ended up repaying over ₹40 lakh due to usurious rates, suffering a net loss of ₹22.5 lakh. "The callers demanded immediate repayment, blackmailed and threatened me with dire consequences," he recounted. "They accessed my phone contacts, forwarded my photos with captions calling me a fraudster, used vulgar language, sent abusive messages to my friends, and defamed my family on WhatsApp." When he resisted further payments, the torment escalated to public shaming on social media.
Similarly, a 26-year-old from Puppalaguda started with a modest ₹9,000 loan in April, which ballooned to ₹2 lakh by August, with repayments topping ₹4.7 lakh. Refusal to pay extras triggered a vicious response: "They morphed my photos into obscene images and sent them to my family and friends," the victim alleged, filing his complaint on September 4. Both cases have been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Telangana Money Lenders Act, and IT Act, with police vowing to trace the perpetrators.
Fraudsters also peddle fake gold loans, pledging imitation or duplicate ornaments to dupe lenders, or divert repayments to personal accounts via unofficial channels like WhatsApp and Telegram. Unsolicited offers via SMS, calls, or fake websites are common entry points, preying on those in financial distress.
Police have outlined clear safeguards to stem the tide:
- Verify lenders through official RBI or company websites before engaging.
- Never pay advance fees or share personal documents, OTPs, or e-KYC data with unverified entities.
- Personally inspect collateral like gold or property to avoid fakes.
- Route all payments solely to official accounts; ignore random loan pitches.
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for banking and avoid suspicious app downloads or links.
A senior Cyberabad official noted the resurgence after a lull: "Loan app harassment complaints had become rare, but a few victims approached us recently alleging harassment from operators. We are analysing the details to identify the accused." Despite a 24% drop in overall cyber fraud losses in Telangana's first half of 2025—down to ₹681 crore from ₹900 crore the previous year—loan-related schemes remain a persistent threat, with refunds totaling over ₹2 crore in recent months from busts.
Experts attribute the surge to economic pressures post-pandemic, with low-income and middle-class professionals as prime targets. "These digital sharks thrive on desperation; awareness is our best defense," said cybersecurity analyst Priya Reddy from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. Victims are encouraged to report promptly to the nearest station, CCS helpline (040-2323 9999), or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to aid swift action and potential refunds.
As Hyderabad's tech-savvy populace grapples with these shadows of the digital economy, the police alert serves as a timely reminder: in the race for quick fixes, caution could be the ultimate safeguard.
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