Julia Christine Botin

Hooked on lending, thousands of Pinoys face rape threats, harassment from bogus lenders

Article (news)

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

Abusive online lending apps are using thousands of preregistered SIM cards to harass and threaten borrowers to pay their loans, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said Friday.Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said the PAOCC has monitored some 300 online lending apps, many bogus, which have “hundreds of thousands of downloads.”Authorities are facing a blank wall in going after abusive lending apps since the companies simply discard these preregistered SIM cards after promoting their services or threatening their borrowers.Some bogus lenders even go so far as to issue rape or death threats to borrowers so they would pay up.“Pag nag-loan ka sa kanila, automatic isu-surrender mo ‘yung contacts mo, ‘yung gallery mo. ‘Yung online profile mo, makukuha nila. Once hawak na nila ‘yan, ‘yan na po ang magiging leverage nila para &#x27;pag ikaw ay sinisingil,” he told DZMM.“Papadalhan ka ng picture. ‘Ang ganda pala ng anak mo. Siguro ang sarap rape-in niyan. Ito pala ang bahay mo. Siguro ang ganda ipa-tokhang o ipakatok ko ‘yan sa pulis.’”A PAOCC ad on Meta received 15,000 complaints of abusive practices by online lending apps, while the PAOCC one-stop shop has received another 300 complaints.Cruz said he has received reports of borrowers taking their own lives because they could no longer take the abuse and shame.He urged telcos to implement “fool-proof” measures to ensure legitimate SIM card registration procedures, which could help curb 80 percent of online crimes.Preregistered SIM cards are also used in love scams and investment scams, he said.

“Papadalhan ka ng picture. ‘Ang ganda pala ng anak mo. Siguro ang sarap rape-in niyan. Ito pala ang bahay mo. Siguro ang ganda ipa-tokhang o ipakatok ko ‘yan sa pulis.’”

“Papadalhan ka ng picture. ‘Ang ganda pala ng anak mo. Siguro ang sarap rape-in niyan. Ito pala ang bahay mo. Siguro ang ganda ipa-tokhang o ipakatok ko ‘yan sa pulis.’”