Father-of-two commits suicide after ‘blackmail’ by online loan company

RAWALPINDI: The father-of-two Muhammad Masood in Rawalpindi committed suicide after being blackmailed by an online loan company, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

A 42-year-old man namely Muhammad Masood 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.

In his recorded audio clip, Masood was saying, “I am so sorry. I failed to be a good person for you, children nor I even became a good son. I have to return loaned money to a lot of people with interests. They made my life a living hell.”

“I asked you to sell the house but you’ve rejected it. I don’t have any option. Please, keep my phone turned off for at least a month and later give it to Muneeb after removing the SIMs. I’m so sorry and please forgive me.”

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.

He added that the father-of-two claimed his own life after facing extreme pressure from the loaners.

The family revealed that Masood had acquired a small loan from an online company which he failed to return in the given timeframe. The online loan company kept increasing the interest rate each month and later they demanded millions in return.

In June, a few victims of such online loan apps scam while talking to ARY News’ programme Sar-e-Aam, share their painful stories.

Due to the crunch economic situation, many citizens are applying for instant loans from online loan apps available on Google Play Store and social media platforms, but they are trapping borrowers.

There are many apps available on social media that offer small loans to people online, which is actually a modern way to loot the public. They have hidden fees and conditions which are unacceptable to poor ones who apply for these online loans to meet their urgent needs.

These apps are frequently advertised on social media platforms, claiming to provide instant loans to the masses and when one applies for the loan, their ‘blackmailing’ begins.

Online loan apps are giving loans for 90 days but they start demanding the return of the money from the people within a week and pressurize them by making calls to their loved ones and leak of family photos and records.

The affected citizens have appealed to the authorities to take prompt action and get them free from the clutches of these online loan app scams.