Some loan apps have done a lot of damage than good as people are seeking to stop loan apps from accessing their bank account, calling and texting their contacts on Android and iOS iPhone.
Most of these loan sharks are not registered with the government, so this gives them room to just behave anyhow, because they know that nobody will check them.
Some of these loan companies go as far as calling you a name that dis-values your person as an individual as often, and I wonder if these lenders aren’t the ones that come begging you to take loans from them.
After the submission of your bio-data and credentials to these fake loan apps, your address of residence, place of work details and other financial histories are stored in their database.
These details of yours can be used later for your harassment when you cannot repay your borrowed loan.
Today in this article, you’ll learn to block, and prevent loan apps from accessing and calling your contacts in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, The Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Senegal, Dubai, Malaysia, Turkey, Tunisia, Portugal, Italy, and Romania.
How Loan Apps Access Phone Contacts
Here are the ways loan apps can access your phone contacts:
1. When you give them permission.
Loan apps can access your contacts if you give them permission to do so.
When you install a loan app, you may be asked to give the app permission to access your contacts.
If you agree, the app will see your entire contact list and store it on its servers.
A loan app might want to access your contacts to verify your identity, to market their services to your contacts, or to collect debts if you default on your loan.
2. Through your phone’s permissions.
Some phones allow apps to access your contacts even if you haven’t given them permission.
This is because the app can request permission to access your contacts at a later time.
3. Through security vulnerability.
If there is a security vulnerability in your phone’s operating system, a loan app could exploit this vulnerability to access your contacts without your permission.
How Loan Apps Track You
Here are the ways loan apps can track you:
1. Location
Some loan apps may track your location using your phone’s GPS to verify your identity, market their services to you, or to collect debts if you default on your loan.
2. Device ID
Every device has a unique device ID that can track it.
This ID can identify your device and track your activity on the app.
3. App Usage
Loan apps can track your app usage to see what other apps you are using to target you with ads and collect data about your interests.
4. Browser History
If you use the loan app’s browser, the app may track your browser history to target you with ads.
How to Stop Loan App Harassment
To stop loan app harassment, follow these steps:
- Only give loan apps permission to access your contacts if you trust them.
- Use a privacy-focused app that will not share your contacts with anyone without your permission.
- Be careful what information you share with loan apps. Only share the information that is absolutely necessary.
- Check your phone’s permissions to see which apps have access to your contacts. If you see an app that you don’t trust, revoke its permission to access your contacts.
- Report any loan app that is harassing you to the app store.
- Use a strong password for your phone.
- Keep your phone’s software up to date.
- Be aware of phishing scams.
How to Stop Loan App from Accessing Your Bank Account
Here are the steps to stop loan apps from accessing your bank account:
1. Revoke the app’s permission to access your bank account.
Once you have installed a loan app, you may have given it permission to access your bank account.
Revoke this permission by following these steps:
- Go to your phone’s settings.
- Tap on “Apps.”
- Find the loan app that you want to revoke permission from.
- Tap on “Permissions.”
- Tap on “Bank.”
- Tap on “Deny.”
If you have already taken out a loan from a loan app and you no longer want the app to have access to your bank account, contact your bank and ask them to block the app.
Your bank will block the app from accessing your account by adding the app to their list of blocked apps.
This will prevent the app from being able to make any unauthorized transactions on your account.
2. Be careful about the apps that you install on your phone.
Only install apps from trusted sources, such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
These stores have strict security measures in place to prevent malicious apps from being uploaded.
If you download an app from an untrusted source, there is a risk that the app could contain malware that could steal your personal information, including your bank account details.
3. Be aware of phishing scams.
Phishing scams are emails or text messages that try to trick you into giving out your personal information.
If you receive an email or text message from a loan app that asks for your personal information, check the email or text message carefully before responding.
If you are unsure whether an email or text message is legitimate, contact the loan app directly to verify.
Ways to Prevent Loan Apps from Accessing Your Contacts
Online loan apps gain access to your contacts when you grant them access to read them.
These loan apps access your phone contacts at the initial stage of your application.
Here are the best ways to stop loan apps from calling and sending messages to your phone contacts:
1. Block Access
When you download an app, your first-time usage of the app may ask for certain permissions from your phone.
These permissions could be access to your contacts, messages, camera, etc.
Many people give these permissions to use the services the app is offering.
Now, for loan apps, once you’ve granted these permissions and you’ve gotten your loan, go into your phone settings and disable remove these permissions.
Only when you default, do the loan companies go to the app to retrieve your phone contacts if the permissions are still granted.
But once you turn it off and don’t open the app again, they won’t have it.
They will threaten to send messages, but believe me, they can’t.
To stop a loan app from sending messages to your contacts, don’t give them access.
Don’t agree to allow them to read your contacts.
And if they do, just follow these steps:
- Go to your Settings on your Android or iOS device.
- Navigate to the Apps Manager.
- Click on Apps permission.
- Select the loan app in question.
- Now, deny or allow them access.
2. Use Reliable Loan Apps
Only give loan apps access to your contacts if you trust them.
Use only loan apps that are known in the industry as being reliable to avoid being blackmailed.
If you are not sure if you trust a loan app, read reviews online or ask your friends for recommendations.
7 Days Loan App Harassment
If you are being harassed by a 7 days loan app, do these:
1. Block the loan app’s number.
Block the app’s number from your phone so that they can no longer contact you.
To do this, open your phone’s dialer and enter the app’s number.
Then, tap on the “i” icon next to the number and select “Block this Caller.”
2. Report the app to the app store.
If you downloaded the app from an app store, such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, report the app to the app store.
This will help to prevent other people from being harassed by the app.
3. Contact the app’s customer support.
If you are still being harassed by the app after blocking the number and reporting the app, contact the app’s customer support.
Explain the situation to them and ask them to stop contacting you.
Do Loan Apps Still Call Contacts?
Loan apps used to call your contacts to collect debts.
In April 2023, Google announced it would ban loan apps from accessing your contacts.
This was done in response to complaints from users about loan apps harassing their contacts.
Now, loan apps can no longer call your contacts without your permission.
If you have given a loan app permission to access your contacts, you can revoke this permission in your phone’s settings.
Loan Apps Sending Messages to Contacts
Loan apps used to send messages to your contacts without your permission.
In April 2023, Google announced it would ban loan apps from accessing your phone contacts.
This was done in response to complaints from users about loan apps harassing their contacts.
Now, loan apps can no longer send messages to your contacts without your permission.
If you have given a loan app permission to access your contacts, revoke this permission in your phone’s settings.
Can Loan App Access My Contacts If Uninstalled?
A loan app cannot access your contacts if you uninstall it.
When you uninstall an app, it is removed from your phone’s storage.
This means that the app’s code and data are no longer available to the app.
As a result, the app cannot access your contacts or any other data that was stored on your phone.
If you gave the loan app permission to access your contacts when you installed it, the app may have stored your contacts on its servers.
If this is the case, the app could still access your contacts even after you have uninstalled it.
To prevent this, revoke the app’s permission to access your contacts before you uninstall it.
Do this by going to your phone’s settings and finding the app’s permissions.
Once you have found the app’s permissions, look for the “Contacts” permission and revoke it.
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Final Words
Once you grant permission for the first time to any loan app, all the information they need about you is stored.
If you are indebted to any of those illegal loan platforms, and you are afraid of defamatory messages to your contacts, go to settings in your phone, click on app and notifications.
Scroll down to app permission and deny them access to your contacts, SMS, photo gallery and storages on your phone.
They won’t be able to reach out to your contacts anymore or post your pictures.
They would only have your number and have only you to deal with.
Finally, ensure to only borrow only what you can pay.
