Mr. N.Q. V - a worker working at a factory in Song Than Industrial Park, Di An ward, Ho Chi Minh City - said that once when he urgently needed money, he found an online loan application advertised online when browsing Facebook. He read that the procedures were very simple, no meeting required, no income proof required, the first loan interest rate was advertised as 0%. He downloaded the app and submitted a loan application for the amount of 7.1 million VND. However, when disbursing, the amount he received was less than 5 million VND because it was charged many types of appraisal fees, service fees...
Not only that, he was shocked to learn that this loan had a term of less than 10 days, if he did not find enough money, he would have to pay an extension fee of up to 2.8 million VND. And even before the deadline, he was constantly harassed by phone calls from early morning to late at night reminding him to pay the debt. At times when he had not found money to pay, many people in his phone book were texted and called to trouble him with offensive words.
Mr. B.L, working at an advertising company in Binh Trung ward, Ho Chi Minh City, said that he saw many online loan ads on Facebook. In the advertisements, there are people dressed politely, modern office settings, even cutting and pasting logos of large banks to create a sense of prestige. The advertising content often promises 0% interest for the first loan, procedures only require a photo of a citizen identification card, provide a phone number, disburse in 5 minutes, even for people with bad debts. He tried to borrow 5 million VND. After a month, the total amount to be paid was nearly 7 million VND.
According to reporters' findings, currently on social networking platforms, there are many advertising clips about loan app apps with content such as attractive loan limits, fast approval time, just a few minutes. A few simple operations via phone can receive money. For most people facing financial difficulties, the initial feeling is being "rescued". But in reality, that is the door leading into a continuous trap.
A common feature of these apps is that the actual amount received is always lower than the amount borrowed. The remainder is deducted from a series of fees. Although borrowers do not receive enough money, they must repay the full debt. Not only stopping there, a feature of black credit apps is that they always suggest borrowers to continue new loans. As soon as this loan is about to expire, they are directed to another loan package or application. Borrowing here to repay there, fee upon fee, accumulated interest, continuous cycles and debt increases exponentially.
A more dangerous thing is that online lending services always require users to provide personal information, guarantor information, lists of relatives, friends... From that time on, not only are they in debt, but borrowers will also be controlled by black credit apps.
Lawyer Nguyen Dang Tu - Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association - said that what is worrying is that the operation of online lending apps is fraudulent, "terrorist"-style debt collection has negatively impacted consumer lending activities of transparently managed finance companies. When people search for keywords such as "borrow money" on Google, many advertisements of loan applications of unknown origin often appear. This is also the cause of many unfortunate incidents. Borrowers are drawn into black credit applications without understanding the terms, then face debt collection pressure or incur very large costs.
When you have been entangled in black credit apps, borrowers need to remain calm, absolutely do not continue to borrow from other apps to repay debts. At the same time, they should keep all related evidence such as transactions, threatening messages, and calls and proactively report to the police agency where they reside or where the school is headquartered to be guided and protect their legitimate rights" - Lawyer Nguyen Dang Tu advised.
