Hyderabad: A 38-year-old Hyderabad-based software engineer approached the cybercrime police, alleging that loan app agents extorted Rs 22 lakh from him.
The complainant, who is a resident of Kukatpally, informed the police that the agents threatened to send abusive and obscene messages about him to his family and friends. The victim had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore from 34 apps in a span of one year and repaid over Rs 1.79 crore after continuous harassment.
In his complaint to the cybercrime unit, the software engineer said, “Despite the repayment, recovery agents kept demanding excessive payments. They used to call late at night and early in the morning.”
He added that they misused his personal data by accessing his phone contacts.
The agents sent objectionable messages to family members, friends, employer, neighbours and threatened to defame him unless he paid more. As the complainant was under duress to clear the excessive interest of almost 1 per cent per day, he alleged that he was forced to borrow from multiple loan apps.
Between September 8, 2025, and October 1, 2026, he had borrowed over Rs 1.56 crore from various apps affiliated with the NBFCs.
During this period, he paid about Rs 1.79 crore through payment gateway links sent by the apps. He explained that he received about Rs 1 lakh refund from an app and paid over Rs 22.9 lakh towards illegal interest, processing fees and penalties due to continuous threats.
Despite this, as the recovery agents continued to demand a further Rs 6 lakh, the software engineer approached the police.
Based on the complaint, the cybercrime police registered a case of extortion 308(5), criminal intimidation 351(2)a, cheating 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections 66-C, 66-D, 67 of the IT Act.
