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PAOCC warns vs online lending apps: Complaints reach 156,000 a month

PAOCC warns vs online lending apps: Complaints reach 156,000 a month

Provided by INQUIRER.net.

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MANILA, Philippines — Aside from avoiding online gambling, the public must refrain from using digital lending applications (apps) amid a rise in harassment cases filed by borrowers against lenders, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director Gilberto Cruz warned on Wednesday.

Citing data from the Philippine National Police, Cruz revealed that authorities recorded 156,000 complaints of online crimes per month, with most cases involving victims who complained of harassment after using online lending apps.

"The record of PNP and other cybercrime units showed that complaints of online scamming and crimes are at 156,000 monthly," the PAOCC official said in a forum on Wednesday.

"They are receiving complaints ranging from online lending, online scamming, online selling (with scamming), among others. But the majority of these cases are due to harassment brought by online lending apps, followed by online scamming," he added.

Cruz also revealed that PAOCC is handling 15,000 cases of victims of online lending applications.

He disclosed that “keyboard warriors” deployed to harass victims are usually Filipinos, while the masterminds behind the operations are foreigners, particularly Chinese, based on PAOCC’s ongoing investigation.

"After a week of lending them money, they will ask for payment. If victims fail to pay them, they will be harassed using their personal accounts, which they surrendered to online lending operators. These accounts were used as leverage against the victims," Cruz narrated.

"The operators will use your pictures and contacts to call your co-workers, and because of this, we recorded many incidents of suicide," he stressed.

Link between online gambling and online lending


Citing initial findings from the investigation, Cruz said PAOCC observed a connection between online gambling and the use of digital lending apps.

He explained that some cases involved OFWs who drained their savings in online gambling and eventually borrowed money through these online lending apps, so they could bring funds upon returning to the Philippines.

The PAOCC official said that so far, six victims have already died of depression following alleged harassment from operators of these online lending apps. /apl

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