Killer Loan Apps

Posted in awareness, data, policy; tagged with analysis, digital lending, killerloanapps, osint

KillerLoanApps

CashlessConsumer has been involved in studying the operations of fly-by-night rogue digital lenders as well as broader digital lending ecosystem, following constant complaints of harassment by app based digital lenders which has led to even suicides. This page is a collection of all our efforts related to #KillerLoanApps. We would like to thank everyone involved in fighting the killer loan apps, especially reporters, startup founders, law enforcement, victims of these apps - all of whom provided crucial information in solving the complex puzzle.

Awareness

Technology

  • Reversing selected apps and studying them in detail using #OSINT tools such as Koodous, MobSF, Certificate Search. We then grokked Koodous with variety of search filters to get long list of apps and began extracting metadata from them to plot the app network.
  • Search playstore for popularly used search terms and enhance app list. Extract metadata, and create enable monitoring Google Play and create LoanApp Database and iterate the process over a month - Code uses Google Play Scraper API
  • Banbreach is building a shell company network mapper by extracting, visualizing Registrar of Companies data and the analysis using the alpha build of the mapper gave crucial leads in mapping the network of operators behind the apps.
  • Archive, Mirror and study meta app generators - CashlessConsumer Mirror
  • Collaborate with startups serving the loan apps ecosystem for intelligence sharing.

Data

Policy

  • Our member Anivar Aravind, volunteer Swathanthra Malayalam Computing, wrote to Finance Minister of Kerala, on regulating digital lending and an annoucement of proposed amendment to Kerala Money Lenders Act, 1958 was made in Kerala Budget 2021.
  • CashlessConsumer has been in touch with @CyberDost, a Cyber-safety and Cybersecurity awareness initiative by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and sharing our knowledge, suggestions on combatting the menace of KillerLoanApps
  • CashlessConsumer will also be writing to RBI Working Group on Digital Lending shortly with a detailed proposal based on our work.

Advocacy

  • Following lists our interactions with journalists about the problem.

Media Stories

Video

Podcast

Blog