A year ago, reports of online lending harassment Philippines 2024 increased rapidly. Reports told of how borrowers were being harassed by their creditors.
This blog will look at the current status of illegal online lending harassment in the Philippines and how the government has been dealing with the problem. We will also look at ways of protecting yourself against these behaviors.
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Table of Contents
Disturbing Behaviors Of Online Lending Harassment Philippines 2024
Online debt shaming is not new; it’s been going on for years. The consequences of using these lending services include difficulty in getting loans and, worse, as mentioned before, cyberbullying.
Customers will be harassed in a variety of ways by institutions and companies operating the loan schemes when their clients are unable to pay off their debts on time.
Use of profane language
The first type of harassment borrowers report is the use of profanity. The lender will use insults, threats, and degrading language to intimidate, harass and control unpaid debtors.
Borrowers will often report a sequence of phone calls and text messages in which they are asked kindly – using a calm voice – to pay back the loan in question. However, this quickly changes to threats, intimidation, and warnings if the owed amount is not repaid.
Offensive calls and texts are the most common form of harassment.
When individuals can no longer pay back their loans, they may try to avoid the situation by any means. The loan organization will later turn to harass and terrorize the borrower’s relatives and acquaintances.
These are the individuals being investigated or whose contact information was given by the borrower to apply for a loan beforehand under its requirements.
These behaviors have left people bewildered, distressed and it has become a distressful situation for the borrower and all those affected by the lender’s accompanying terror.
Violent threats
Debt collection can become serious when the collectors begin to threaten their targets with violence.
Usually, this case would fall into the hands of black credit institutions that function as an underground centralized bank that forcefully collects a debt by employing tactics such as violence, mental warfare, forced health problems, and even stealing your property.
More seriously, they pour dirt, waste concrete in front of the house, lay mourning wreaths, and hang animals’ heads on their doorways. They spray paint profanity and fresh blood as they bring large numbers of people to the borrowers’ homes or places of work.
These actions are detrimental to a person’s safety, violate the law, and be held criminally responsible for the corresponding crimes.
So, if you’re thinking about taking out a loan online, it’s important to settle for legitimate lending institutions that are licensed and regulated by state agencies.
Exposing customers’ personal data
Most of the time, when going online to borrow money, customers are required to install applications from their lending institutions that help the customer track and pay back their loan.
However, many people don’t know that these apps require permission for data access before installing them, leading to credit institutions stealing private information from their customers, such as contacts, photos, messages, and other forms of contact info.
Debt collectors use social media to share false or misleading information or even make up stories about a person just to ruin their reputation for debt collection, which can lead to all kinds of problems when trying to conduct your life in public.
The harassment cases, as mentioned above, are currently creating anger among the public and tend to be complicated. For moneylenders, to recover debts, they think of more ways to put pressure on the debtors, their friends, and relatives around.
See also: Privacy Commission orders immediate takedown of four online lending apps
Why Does It Happen?
Foreseeable, the main reason for harassment when it comes to online lending is the borrowers fail to repay on time. Under the current epidemic situation, many people fall into poverty, lose their jobs, and cannot pay their debts.
Unlike traditional banks, which will consider your case or discuss a solution that works for both parties, online credit institutions will immediately rush you to repay the loan. They know that you will pay if they put you under enough pressure.
They will terrorize you until you pay off the debt.
Not to mention that there are too many scammers who are willing to steal your information because they know that your valuable, personal details have a monetary value.
A prime example where this can be a problem is when someone uses your information to open a line of credit, apply for and receive money from other institutions and applications.
As a result, you end up burdening yourself with charges that aren’t your own or even deal with the debt which falls from the skies. It means that you should always be careful while using the Internet or while dealing with online lenders.
See also: What Happens To Unpaid Credit Card Debt In The Philippines?
The Involvement Of Government Organizations
The Government of the Philippines has come up with ways to protect people from abusive practices.
According to the Department of Justice, borrowers who have experienced unlawful loan collection from online lenders can complain with the National Privacy Commission, especially if their personal data is used illegally.
Government organizations have stepped in to protect borrowers.
You can also report cyber security law violations to the following authorized organizations:
- the National Bureau of Investigation
- the Office of the Prosecutor
- the Anti-Cybercrime Group of Philippine National Police
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (for the financial institution that registered with this organization)
Government organizations will have to play their due roles at controlling illegal borrowing, do a good job of receiving and processing criminal cases and denunciations related to illegal borrowing and mobilizing services.
Each citizen should also be alert before choosing to participate in these services. Individuals can avoid negative financial repercussions by using legal means available rather than illegal ones.
Bottom Lines
This blog might be an eye-opener for many of you. If you are a borrower, you might want to know what you can do to protect yourself from harassment by the lending institution.
We hope this article helped you learn more about online lending harassment Philippines 2024, how it affects borrowers, and the government’s reaction to such. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post, and we’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic!
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