RAUFU Kareem took a loan from AddMoney, an app owned by Rock Financials Limited listed on the Google Play Store.

While his loan application was being reviewed, Kareem changed his mind. He e-mailed the loan firm to stop the application, and the company promised to address the issue.

The next day, Kareem was credited by the loan firm, leaving him confused since he had requested a cancellation of the loan offer.

Kareem was desperate to pay back the loan, so he visited the firm’s office address on its website to rectify the issue. But his finding was shocking.

Rock Financials Limited says on its website that its address is located on the second-floor building of No 13 King George V Road, Victoria Island in Lagos State. When he got to the building, other occupants and the property caretaker confirmed to him that Rock Financials had never rented a space in the building.

The ICIR found out the firm operates two other lending apps, AimLoan and AnyLoan, on the Google Play Store, with the same non-existing address.

Checks by The ICIR show that Rock Financials is legally registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but is unauthorised to lend money to borrowers in the country.

And the firm lists another address, No 3 Ijaiye Road, Ogba, Lagos, on its CAC registration details.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not approve the firm as a licensed financial company or microfinance bank to undertake financial operations based on its list of approved finance firms.

Nigerian laws guiding money lending include the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act ( BOFIA) and state lending laws.

States have different laws regulating money lending services but require that money lenders be licensed before operating in their domains.

As soon as Kareem informed his debt officer that his firm’s office location was fake, the company stopped taking his calls and threatened him to pay his loan or face the consequences.

“They have been calling my contacts to force me to pay up interests on a loan I didn’t ask, saying the interest rate would get to N1,000 per day if I don’t comply,” he told The ICIR.

The ICIR reached out to the management of Rock Financials Limited to know why the firm advertises a non-existent office on its website.

The firm failed to respond to e-mails, calls and WhatsApp messages sent to their phone lines.

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However, these loan offers have taken far more from their victims than they give. Some operate online as digital nomads without offices, like Rock Financials, breaching Nigeria’s financial regulations.

Outrageous interests, deception tricks
While Nigerians have been quick to embrace digital loan apps, their interests are at sky-high rates.

Loan apps listed on the Google Play Store offering short-term loans are mandated by Google policy rules to give borrowers no fewer than 60 days from the date of issue to repay any loan.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/illegal-loan-apps-ignore-nigerias-cyber-laws-continue-to-shame-customers/