Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram city police have introduced a WhatsApp number to report incidents of online and mobile loan app frauds.As per the data released by the city police, there has been a steady rise in the number of cases registered over online loan frauds in the city. From zero cases in 2018 and 2019, the number of cases registered showed a steady rise with 12 cases registered in 2020 and 1,152 cases in 2021, 197 cases in 2022 and 242 cases till July this year. Public can register complaints 24x7 on the WhatsApp number 9497980900 by passing information about the fraud. The information can be passed only through text, video or voice and the police officers will give a call back later for collecting more details and to register cases. Public is urged not to call on the number to register complaints.This is a part of the statewide effort of police to raise awareness among the public about online frauds, especially about the ones using mobile loan apps. Heads of all district police will take part in the campaign to raise awareness. In most of such online crimes, the accused operate from north Indian states. The server on which they are operating would also be based in other countries. Probing such cases is a tough task and raising public awareness is crucial in curbing such frauds, cyber police said. I took a loan of just Rs 10,000 from an app and I had to pay over Rs 30,000 for repaying it. When they demanded more money, I sought police help and registered a case. They threatened to kill me but I did not care. Now, their mobile number remains switched off and I am free of their threat, said a Sree Karyam native..We also published the following articles recentlyCops make second arrest in online task fraud caseA 34-year-old man from Sangli has been arrested by Punes cyber police in a task fraud case. The suspect, identified as Mayur Nikam, trades in cryptocurrencies and was apprehended on Saturday. He was brought to Pune on Sunday and produced before a city court, where he was remanded in police custody. The police have also identified a third suspect in the case. The arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into online task fraud, which has seen numerous arrests and significant financial losses for victims.EOW sniffs bigger scam in loan fraud case against MLAThe economic offences wing (EOW) has uncovered a big loan fraud scam involving BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and a media house HR head. Over 350 employees were coerced into taking fraudulent loans, with forged salary certificates submitted to banks. There was a mismatch between actual salaries and salary slips submitted. The media house denies the charges, while the BJD party stated that Patnaik should face the probe. In a separate case, the EOW plans to question Bollywood actor Govinda in connection with a pan-India online ponzi scam probe.Police yet to identify online loan lenderPolice in Kochi are investigating the suicide of a family who were allegedly harassed by online loan sharks. The culprits have not been identified as the money was transacted online, making it difficult to trace. The family had borrowed money from online lenders and, when they defaulted on repayment, the lenders began to harass them. They even sent an obscene photo of the wife to relatives, which ultimately led the family to take their own lives. Police have received complaints about the harassment and are investigating the case.

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