Type of cyber crime
Job, loan-app & romance scams
Fake job offers with "registration fees", illegal loan apps that harass you and your contacts, and relationships built to extract money.
Three scams that work on hope rather than fear. Job scams charge for interviews, kits or "work-from-home tasks" that pay small amounts before demanding deposits. Illegal loan apps lend tiny sums, harvest your contacts, then threaten and defame you to extract many times the amount. Romance scams build a relationship over weeks and then produce a crisis that only money can fix.
How it usually looks
- A "part-time task" job liking YouTube videos that pays ₹150, then requires a ₹10,000 "VIP" deposit.
- A loan app that sends morphed photos of you to your contacts a week after disbursing ₹3,000.
- A "doctor working with the UN" stuck at customs with a gift for you.
Law that applies
| Provision | What it covers | Punishment |
|---|---|---|
| BNS 2023 s.318 / s.308 | Cheating; extortion | Up to 7 years |
| IT Act 2000 s.66E / s.67 | Privacy violation; obscene content (morphed images) | Up to 3 years |
| RBI Digital Lending Guidelines 2022 | Only regulated entities may lend digitally; no access to contacts/media | Regulatory action; apps removed |
Sections are quoted for orientation; the police decide the final charge sheet. Verify text at indiacode.nic.in.
Where to report
- Loan-app harassment: do not pay more; report to RBI Sachet, the app store, and 1930.
- Job and romance scams: file on cybercrime.gov.in with payment details and the platform used.
- Warn your contacts that any message from the app is a scam.
How to prevent it
- No real employer charges candidates. No real lender needs your contact list.
- Check a lender against RBI's list of regulated entities before installing any loan app.
- Someone you have never met asking for money is a script, however it feels.
Frequently asked questions
The loan app is threatening my family. Do I have to repay?
Repay only what you actually borrowed, through a legitimate channel, if the lender is RBI-regulated. Illegal apps have no enforceable claim and their threats are criminal; report them rather than negotiate.