Loan repayment fraud

Many small and medium-sized organisations affected by the coronavirus faced trading difficulties and risks of becoming insolvent. The government offered such firms low-rate loans. There are various application rules and specific conditions to handle firms that could not recover from that position where they could be placed in a formal insolvency process. 

However, some firms used dormant companies to get cash at a lower rate, and some customers used the money as deposits for buying cars. 

Additionally, multiple cases of loan repayment scams were reported. It happens when a tracker uses the company's name that resembles the loan firm; they send a letter claiming the recipient has missed a repayment and then charge a penalty for the delay. 

The victim transfers the funds into the scammers' account to discover they own the full amount later. 

Finally, there are some hard frauds where a person indulges in deliberate deceits like impersonating legitimate firms or individuals or using money mules to get loans, who then file for bankruptcy. Since there were many such reports, the lenders were asked to scrutinise money laundering and conduct KYC checks.  

How To Protect Yourself?

• Check the original paperwork if you have been contacted by someone who claims to be from the loan office and asks to pay the penalty for delay in the payment of instalments. 

• Contact the lender and get details/statements of all the previous payments and transactions from your bank account. 

• Ask the person who calls or sends a message to explain it in detail to find out where they got all the information. Do not take action in a hurry, and do not panic.

• If money has been lost or you suspect fraud, it should be reported to the authorities.