Interior decorator duped of ₹97 lakh in loan fraud in Thane: Key money lessons to learn from this

Personal loan: Four persons were arrested recently for cheating an interior decorator of ₹97.75 lakh in Thane under the guise of arranging a business loan through CSR funds.

The accused had promised him a loan of ₹2.75 crore from funds under the CSR, but managed to cheat him of his money. It's quite a sad sequence of events and speaks volumes of ignorance on the part of the loan applicant.

What money lessons one can learn from it

I. Loan applications are approved on a case-by-case basis: Typically, loans are approved based on the credit score and the ability of borrowers to repay the loan on time. If the loan is taken for business, generally, the lender may evaluate based on the business plan. But no lender will ask for the money to be given before the loan's approval.

II. CSR is meant for non-business activities: As mentioned in the above case, the interior decorator was promised money from the CSR fund, but it sounds frivolous. Generally, companies spend corporate social responsibility (CSR) money on socially good, such as for the environment, education, and other social issues, including children's welfare, nutrition, etc.

Generally, this does not include giving loans for businesses. So, if someone tries to give a loan on this ground, then one must be careful. It could be a trap.

III. Processing fee: Lenders tend to levy a small processing fee, but it could be a small amount, which ranges between 2-5 percent of the loan money and is typically deducted from the loan proceeds. Borrowers are not supposed to pay a huge amount up front to be able to get a loan approval.

IV. Approach lender directly: More often than not, these frauds happen when borrowers approach lenders through a fraudster who pretends to be an agent of a bank or NBFC. So the better thing to do is to approach the lender to avoid falling into a trap.

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