A fake loan app is harassing me and my contacts for recovery, what can I do?

Question

I took a small loan from an unlicensed instant loan app and now they're threatening me and messaging my contacts with morphed photos. I would rather settle this without going to court if the law allows it, but I need to know my rights before I sign anything. Please tell me what to do first and what document to keep.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

Under Indian law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Section 351 (criminal intimidation) is the starting point for this cyber law question. What follows is the position in substance, together with the steps that usually make the difference in practice.

Unlicensed digital lending apps that access your contact list and photos without proper consent and use them to threaten/harass you violate the RBI's Digital Lending Directions, which require lenders to be RBI-regulated entities and prohibit such coercive recovery practices.

Threatening you or your contacts, especially using morphed/doctored images, amounts to criminal intimidation under Section 351 BNS and, if images are altered, Section 66E/66C of the IT Act (privacy violation/identity theft) also applies.

RBI has directed that only RBI-regulated entities or their registered agents can lend digitally; many such apps operate illegally without any RBI registration, meaning the underlying loan agreement itself may be unenforceable.

Report the app directly to the RBI's Sachet portal (sachet.rbi.org.in) for illegal lending activity, in addition to filing a criminal complaint at cybercrime.gov.in for the harassment and privacy violation.

Google has also delisted many such apps from the Play Store following RBI action, so reporting the app to Google (via Play Store's report abuse option) can help stop it from targeting others.

What to do next: 1) Do not respond to threats; document all messages/calls with timestamps; 2) Report the app on the RBI Sachet portal and to cybercrime.gov.in; 3) File an FIR citing Section 351 BNS and Section 66E IT Act for harassment/privacy violation; 4) Warn your contacts in advance that they may receive fake messages about you.

If you are unsure whether your facts fall inside Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Section 351 (criminal intimidation), that is worth checking with an advocate before you commit to a route, because switching later costs time. You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in cyber law.