BAU: A local woman claims she has paid thousands of ringgit over a RM500 online loan, only to be threatened with having her home burned down when she stopped making payments.
The 26-year-old, who works in sales and marketing, lodged a police report on Monday (Jun 8) after allegedly receiving threats from individuals linked to an unlicensed online moneylending scheme.
Bau police chief Supt Mohd Haide A. Rahman said the case is being investigated under Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951.
“The woman had applied for a loan in 2023 through a mobile app known as “Senang Loan” on Google Play Store.
“She was then contacted via WhatsApp by a man identifying himself as “Mark”, who offered her a RM500 loan with a repayment amount of RM550 every 30 days.
“After the loan was approved, the woman allegedly continued making repayments from 2023 until April this year through three different bank accounts provided by the suspects,” he said.
Her latest payment was made on Apr 29, when she transferred RM2,090 into a BSN account.
Mohd Haide said the woman stopped making payments in May, after which another individual identifying himself as “Sean” allegedly contacted her and demanded an additional RM2,000.
The suspect allegedly threatened to circulate her photographs on social media and set her house on fire if she failed to make the payment.
“The woman also claimed she had received WhatsApp messages from various unknown numbers demanding repayment and threatening to splash paint on and torch her home.
“Fearing for her safety and that of her family, she lodged a police report and sought assistance from the authorities,” he said.
Based on the repayment terms of RM550 every 30 days, the woman may have paid tens of thousands of ringgit over the three-year period, although the exact amount has yet to be determined.
Checks on the bank account and phone numbers involved found no previous police reports linked to them.
