How do I know if a loan app is fake?

Check for an advance fee demand, contacts or gallery permissions, no named RBI-registered lender, no Key Fact Statement, disbursal into a wallet, or repayment to a personal account. Any one of these means stop.

Should I ever pay a fee before receiving a loan?

Never. Legitimate charges such as a processing fee are deducted from the disbursed amount, not collected in advance. An upfront payment request is the single most reliable sign of fraud.

Where do I report a fraudulent loan app in India?

File on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, and raise a complaint with the RBI at cms.rbi.org.in under the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. Keep screenshots and call recordings as evidence.

Is recovery harassment legal if I actually missed EMIs?

No. Abusive calls, contacting your friends and family, and threats are prohibited under RBI fair-practices norms regardless of what you owe. Complain to the lender's grievance officer and escalate to the RBI Ombudsman.

How to spot a loan-app scam in India

A loan app is almost certainly fraudulent if it asks for a fee before disbursal, requests access to your contacts, gallery or SMS, will not name the RBI-registered lender behind it, gives you no Key Fact Statement before signing, or asks you to read out an Aadhaar OTP. Any one of these is enough to stop.

The six red flags

Fraudulent lending apps in India are consistent in their behaviour, which makes them easy to identify once you know the pattern.

An advance fee, security deposit, "registration charge" or "GST payment" demanded before disbursal — always a scam, without exception.
Permission requests for contacts, gallery, SMS or call logs. These exist to harass you and your family later, never to assess credit.
No named lender. A legitimate Lending Service Provider discloses which RBI-registered NBFC or bank is lending the money.
No Key Fact Statement before signing, or fees that appear afterwards that were not in it.
Money offered into a wallet, or repayment demanded to a personal UPI ID or individual's account.
Pressure and secrecy — a countdown timer, a "limited offer", or being told not to discuss it with family.

How to check before you install

Search the lender's name against the RBI's list of registered NBFCs. Read the app's permission list on the store page before installing, not after. Look for a named grievance redressal officer and a published RBI Ombudsman escalation route — fraudulent operators never publish either, because they do not want to be findable.

Then check the app's own website for a registered entity name and address. An app that cannot tell you who it legally is should not be given your PAN.

If you are already being harassed

Recovery harassment — abusive calls, messages to your contacts, morphed photographs, threats — is illegal regardless of whether you owe money. Do not pay to make it stop; payment confirms you as a target.

Record and screenshot everything. Complain to the lender's grievance officer in writing. File a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in, and raise it with the RBI through the Complaint Management System at cms.rbi.org.in under the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. Revoke the app's permissions and uninstall it, but keep the evidence.

How CredBean works, so you can compare

CredBean is a brand of Privena Financial Services Private Limited and is a Lending Service Provider, not a lender. We never charge an advance fee — No membership, subscription or advance fee is ever charged by CredBean. We never ask for contacts, gallery, SMS or call logs. Loans are disbursed by RBI-registered lending partners straight into your own bank account, after you review a Key Fact Statement. Our grievance officer and the full RBI Ombudsman escalation route are published on our grievance page.

Frequently asked questions

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