The Cybercrime Wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tuesday initiated investigations against the loan-giving mobile applications that allegedly blackmailed the cell phone users into returning the loans at high markup under the threat of leaking their personal data, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Applications including Barwaqt, PK Loan, Easy Loan, and Fast Loan have come under the radar of the FIA.

The FIA sources said that those applications offered loans to the mobile phone users on the promise of two to six per cent markup.

The sources added that those applications then got access to the personal data of the mobile phone users and blackmail them into returning the loans at 40 per cent markup.

“They threaten to leak the photos of the debtors if they refuse to pay the high markup. They also get access to the number of the relatives of the debtors and blackmail them,” they stated.

“The teams of these applications also approach the debtors and extort money from them in the name of settling the matters. Women are preferred to men for the provision of loans,” they added.

The FIA Cybercrime Wing initiated investigations after receiving several complaints from women.

Reporter: Saud Butt