Falling into the trap of online loan apps again.

In a complaint to the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Ms. HX (residing in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) stated that she had recently been scammed out of money through an online lending application called "Tieu Dung VCB".

Recounting her situation, Ms. HX said she is a single mother supporting her elderly mother and daughter. To cover living expenses, pay for her daughter's education, and treat her mother's medical expenses, in addition to her income from her supermarket job, she had to take out consumer loans from several finance companies and managed to repay them. However, since July 2021, she contracted Covid-19 and was unemployed for three months, leaving her without income to repay her loans from the finance companies.

"Seeing the VCB Consumer app advertising on social media about consumer loan packages from 40 to 450 million VND to support customers during the Covid-19 pandemic, I contacted them and was greeted by someone who introduced themselves as a consultant with very appealing claims like: 'Loans without deposit - no tax - no fees, disbursement to your bank account, absolute confidentiality, loan contract provided, even those with bad credit can still borrow…'. The conditions for loan approval were also very easy, just needing an ATM card registered for online money transfer services and a balance of 10% of the loan value to prove repayment ability," Ms. HX recounted.

Notably, despite requiring a bank balance to prove repayment ability, the app's consultant advised her to "circumvent" the requirement by "borrowing from relatives," promising to repay the loan after her application was approved. "Seeing the app advertising loans, I planned to borrow money to cover my expenses. I even borrowed from friends to have enough money (12 million VND) to deposit into my bank account as proof of repayment, but the app scammed me and stole all the money," Ms. HX said.

Furthermore, panicked after being scammed out of money borrowed from friends, and still struggling to find money for living expenses and repayment to the finance company, Ms. XH contacted another online lending app called VCTT but was scammed again.

"The app staff said they approved my 50 million VND loan and would process the paperwork to transfer the money to my account. But then they pulled a trick, claiming my account was malfunctioning and that to fix the application and get the loan disbursed, I had to transfer 20 million VND to them. Worried because I needed the money, I borrowed 20 million VND from friends to transfer to them to fix the application, and in the end, I lost everything," Ms. HX said sadly.

Notably, this is not the first time readers have reported being scammed when borrowing money online through mobile applications. Previously, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper has repeatedly reported on numerous fraudulent online lending applications that deceptively impersonate financial companies and commercial banks, offering loans but in reality being scams. They trick borrowers into having their applications approved on the condition that they transfer a fee of 10-20 million VND, after which they disappear.

Financial expert Dr. Dinh The Hien warns that scams aimed at stealing people's money, like the case mentioned above, are becoming increasingly common and widespread. If people are not vigilant, they can easily become victims of high-tech criminals. For example, transferring money to individuals claiming to be employees of online lending apps in the form of fees is actually a scam. It's not just about lending money and then stealing fees; many other scams involve impersonating bank employees, financial companies, police officers, or court officials to lure and intimidate people into giving up their money.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/lai-sap-bay-app-cho-vay-online-20211221210349213.htm