Advance Fee Loan Approval Scam by SMS

How it looks by SMS, the red flags and what to do.

A text message is the cheapest way for a scammer to reach thousands of phones at once, and the sender name can look like a bank, a courier or a government office. Advance Fee Loan Approval Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A loan is approved without checks, but you must first pay processing, insurance or GST. After you pay, new fees follow and no loan arrives.

What advance fee loan approval scam looks like by SMS

• A request to call a number, install an app or share an OTP.
• Several near-identical messages arriving together from different senders.
• A sender name that resembles a bank, courier, tax or utility, or an ordinary mobile number.

The scammer contacts you with an offer that suits your needs. Perhaps you searched for a loan online or filled a lead form on an ad page that sold your number. The caller is warm and knows a few details. They send a sanction letter with a logo and a reference number to look genuine, and say that your file just needs a final step before the money is released.

Red flags to check on the text message

• A loan is approved without documents or any check.
• A fee must be paid before any money is released.
• Several different fees are demanded in turn.
• Fees are paid to personal UPI IDs or wallets.
• It promises a refund, prize or cashback you never asked for.
• It tells you to install an app from a link instead of the official store.

What to do

1. Do not pay any fee before a loan is released.
2. Check the lender in the official list or through its official website that you type yourself.
3. Read any agreement fully and ask for the cost in writing.
4. Paste the text into a scam checker (Safeavio Sentinel can check it) before you do anything else.
5. Report the sender on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility) and block the number.
6. Delete the message and tell family members who may get the same text.

You can report suspicious SMS and calls on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility) of the Department of Telecommunications.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 right away with the payee details.
2. Tell your bank through the number on your card so it can try to hold the payments.
3. File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with the sanction letter and receipts.
4. Do not pay further fees to recover the earlier ones.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's scam check reads a loan message or chat you paste and shows reasons such as fees before release, no checks and pressure to pay today. Money Shield asks questions before you send money, including who is asking and whether you can verify them independently. It cannot verify a lender's licence or recover money, so check lenders through official sources.

Full guide: Advance Fee Loan Approval Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: phone call, WhatsApp.

Questions