Lookout Threat Lab team came up with new research in which they have discovered that around 300 mobile loan applications on Google Play and the App Store collect user credentials from mobile devices and harass borrowers for repayment.
These apps reportedly have been found working in Southeast Asian and African countries, as well as India, Mexico, and Colombia, allegedly promising to provide fast-track work and fully-digital loan approvals with fair loan terms.
However, in reality, these are just tricks to lure victims for quick cash to ensnare borrowers into fraud loan contracts and ask them to provide access to their sensitive data including their contact details, SMS messages, addresses, etc.
In total, the team of researchers has uncovered 251 Android apps on the Google Play store with over 15 million collective downloads. Along with this, 35 apps on the App Store were in the top 100 finance apps in their regional stores.
Users reported that their loans come with hidden fees, high-interest rates, and repayment conditions that are less favorable than what is promised on the app stores.
Researchers also discovered that the information exfiltrated from mobile devices is sometimes used for creating pressure on users for repayment.
According to the research, there are a few essential steps that you can take to protect your system and yourself from loan scams.
- The first and most important step one should take is to apply for loans from established institutions. Before applying for a loan one should study and research thoroughly the organization’s history, registration with legal agencies, and reputation.
- Before accepting conditions and granting permissions to any app, first learn what permission should be granted, especially when the app asks to grant access to contacts, location, SMS, and files.
- Always Install apps from official sources, before installing apps check and read from multiple sources whether the app is legitimate or not.
All in all, the apps have a very similar business model, which is to lure victims into fraud loan terms and blackmail them to pay. Along with this, the research reads that the loan operators also display scam-like actions.
