Navi Mumbai: A 23-year-old HR professional working with a pharmaceutical company in Mahape was allegedly duped of Rs 7.60 lakh by cybercriminals who trapped her through a loan app and threatened to circulate morphed obscene photographs of her.

Koparkhairane police have registered a case against unidentified persons and bank account holders and launched an investigation.

According to the complaint, the woman, a Koparkhairane resident, needed urgent financial assistance on July 20 and downloaded the Dhruv Loan application after finding it on Google. Another app, Fertila Rupee, was also installed on her phone. She applied for a Rs 5,000 loan but received only Rs 2,000, which she repaid with interest within a week.

The accused allegedly began depositing money into her account without her requesting further loans and later pressured her to repay the amounts. When she refused to repay another amount credited on July 30, she allegedly began receiving WhatsApp calls and messages from different numbers.

The accused allegedly sent her morphed obscene photographs and threatened to share them with her WhatsApp contacts and upload them on social media. Fearing embarrassment, she borrowed money from friends and transferred funds to bank accounts and UPI IDs provided by the accused.

Between August 23 and September 29, she allegedly made 67 online transactions totalling Rs 7.60 lakh. She later approached the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Koparkhairane police.

Police registered a case under relevant provisions of the BNS, including Sections 318(4), 319(2) and 308, along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act.

Police have advised citizens to avoid unauthorised loan apps and not grant them access to personal photographs, contacts, or other sensitive data. Victims should not succumb to threats and can report cyber fraud through helpline 1930 or at the nearest police station.