Complainant says multiple loans and credit cards were issued in her name from various banks
The crooks fraudulently obtained personal information. Representation Pic/istock
A 36-year-old woman from Malad has approached the cyber police, alleging that cyber fraudsters took out loans totalling Rs 25 lakh in her name using forged documents. The loans were obtained from at least 16 companies, leaving her with a fraudulent credit burden.
The victim, Malaika Shah (name changed), approached the North Region Cyber Police last month and registered a case against three unidentified individuals. According to her complaint—of which mid-day has a copy—she and her husband were planning to purchase a property in Malad and had applied for a bank loan in 2020 from a nationalised bank (name withheld).
Dr Prashant Mali
After submitting the required documents, her loan request was approved by the end of the year, and Rs 75 lakh was disbursed. The amount was deposited into her savings account with the same bank, and from May 1, 2021, onwards, EMIs for the property began to be deducted, she stated in her complaint. Starting in June 2023, Shah began receiving multiple international calls and messages inquiring about a home loan supposedly in her name. She ignored them, blocking and reporting the numbers, believing them to be spam.
In August 2024, Shah received a call from HDFC Bank informing her of pending dues on a personal loan though she had not taken one. Then onward, she began receiving similar calls from multiple banks and fintech companies, all claiming she had outstanding personal loan and credit card dues.
At first, Shah was confused, but when she checked her CIBIL report, she discovered that multiple loans and credit cards had been issued in her name across various banks. Her family contacted banks and fintech companies and discovered that from each bank, a personal loan ranging between R5 lakh and R7 lakh had been taken in Shah’s name. The disbursed amounts were transferred to her other accounts and then self-debited through different transactions.
In her written complaint, Shah said the signatures on the loan application forms were forged and did not even resemble the signatures on her documents. “The email ID as well as my maiden name were incorrect, and this indicates a conspiracy involving bank employees and agents who misused my home loan documents,” she stated.
Speaking about the case, Advocate (Dr) Prashant Mali, a cyber crime law expert, said, “Banks need to exercise extra caution in the KYC process. When it is established that the victim is not responsible, their name must be cleared from fraudulent loan accounts to ensure justice. This is a prime example of an innocent victim being made to suffer simply because they initially remained silent.”
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