Blackmailing, suicide case: FIA moves to freeze accounts of online loan app

ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has moved to freeze accounts of the online loan app after the alleged blackmailing of the customers which led to the suicide of a Rawalpindi citizen, Muhammad Masood, ARY News reported on Monday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) made progress on the deceased Rawalpindi citizen, Muhammad Masood’s suicide case who claimed his own life after being blackmailed by an online loan app.

After expanding the probe’s scope, FIA made records of four sealed offices of the loan app as part of the ongoing investigation into Muhammad Masood’s suicide case.

READ: FIA launches probe into Online Loan App blackmailing case

The intelligence agency contacted concerned communication companies for blocking the accounts of the online loan app. The FIA spokesperson said they also received records of the employees working at the offices of the loan app.

Additionally, the agency wrote letters to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (FIA) for the records of the SIMs used in the financial fraud. The blackmailing and suicide case is being investigated by a 19-member team headed by FIA’s additional director of cybercrimes.

In another development today, the initial probe report regarding the loan app was submitted to the interior ministry. The DG FIA issued directives to all anti-cybercrime units to launch crackdown on unregistered loan apps across the country.

It was learnt that over 74 inquiries and three cases were lodged across the country, whereas, 17 suspects were arrested and 30 accounts were blocked.

The authorities sealed five online loan companies over their alleged involvement in illegal activities.

Masood’s suicide and voice note

A few days ago, a father-of-two Muhammad Masood in Rawalpindi committed suicide after being blackmailed by an online loan app.

READ: Online loan apps: FIA arrests nine ‘blackmailers’

The victim had acquired Rs22,000 – a resident of Rawalpindi’s Chakra area – from an online loan company. The people running the online loan company started blackmailing Masood.

After being fed up, Muhammad Masood committed suicide and recorded an audio clip before claiming his own life. A case was lodged at the Race Course station by the deceased man’s brother.

He stated in the First Information Report (FIR) that the people running the online loan company was blackmailing Masood by threatening women of his family and data leak.

‘Still receiving threatening calls’

Meanwhile, the victim’s brother claimed his family was still receiving threatening calls from the Online Loan company even after the burial of Muhammad Masood.

Masood’s brother claimed that the online loan company was blackmailing his family by threatening to leak personal information and pictures.

Earlier, a conversation of the online loan app representative with Masood’s nephew also come to light, wherein the former can be heard threatening the victim.