Predatory Loan Apps Are Thriving in Google Play Store, Despite Ban (restofworld.org) 29
Tens of thousands of people have fallen victim to predatory loan apps, which extort users using sensitive information from their phones. Google has changed its policy to prevent the loan apps from being listed on the Play store, but enforcement is unreliable. Rest of World: According to Mexico City's Citizen Council for Safety and Justice, a consumer watchdog group, 135 reports to local authorities have been filed against JoyCredito for fraud and extortion. But despite the government attention, the app is still available to download from the Google Play store. For years, apps like JoyCredito have been exploiting borrowers from Mexico to India. They lend small amounts of money with few requirements and very high interest rates to financially vulnerable people -- and then extort them when the loan is due. After years of mounting pressure from watchdog groups, Google explicitly banned the apps from the Play store in October. But stories like those of Macias Gonzalez show how widespread the apps still are -- and how ineffective Google has been at enforcing its own policy.
Rest of World presented Google with 15 instances of exploitative loan apps based in Mexico that explicitly violate the terms of the Play store. All of them were still available in the store as of press time. Of the 15 apps, 12 explicitly asked for access to either the camera roll or contacts in the Google Play store's terms of services. Two others specified full access only in external documents. One other gave no data access information. Rest of World also found 10 apps in Peru that have been flagged as exploitative by SBS, a national body that oversees banking, insurance, and private pension. All the apps are still available for download on the Google Play store.
Rest of World presented Google with 15 instances of exploitative loan apps based in Mexico that explicitly violate the terms of the Play store. All of them were still available in the store as of press time. Of the 15 apps, 12 explicitly asked for access to either the camera roll or contacts in the Google Play store's terms of services. Two others specified full access only in external documents. One other gave no data access information. Rest of World also found 10 apps in Peru that have been flagged as exploitative by SBS, a national body that oversees banking, insurance, and private pension. All the apps are still available for download on the Google Play store.
Stop No Evil (Score:1)
More honest than Do no Evil.
Re: (Score:2)
More like "Do nothing".
Getting Google's attention is hard. Not like Microsoft. MSFT is run by sellers and therefore when something that looks like a PR black eye comes up, they are all over it performatively. Whereas Google had my house's driveway listed as a public road in Maps for years, it's still the case now, though I sold the place about a year and change ago. They couldn't care less.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, "uncaring evil" is still evil. And you know, if the US legal system was not thoroughly corrupt, they would not get away with crap like that.
Workaround (Score:2)
Want access to my camera roll? Access to my contacts? No problem! I'll use a phone with no info in either, or a bunch of meaningless shit that is worthless.
Now gimma mah moneh so I can default on my loan!
Re:Workaround (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole "Apps can request permissions" thing is way out of control.. We have friggin' banking apps demanding that you grant the app Make Phone Calls, View Contacts, and Send Text message rights just to open the app and view account balances. I believe their excuse for asking the permission is identifying a device "security reasons", as if Phones didn't offer key storage and hardware enclaves.
Google should add a policy that a permission cannot be requested Until directed by a specific user action within the app that necessitates the use of that permission, and None of the permissions to take Actions outside the app or Read User data can be required as part of a security verification to login or access functionality of an App.
Android needs to add an option to "Stealth deny" individual permissions. So when the app is stealth denied a permission -- instead of getting a no permissions error the app can respond to and prompt you over and over to grant perms; the OS presents a random-generated "Fake" camera roll" and fake contact list to the app that come from randomized data.
Why did they think a policy change would do it? (Score:4, Interesting)
Someone who plans to blackmail and extort probably doesn't really give half a fuck about violating some license agreement.
Sucks to be poor (Score:2)
Hmm, something tells me these "financially vulnerable people" are going to get bad loans whether they're available in the Google Play store or not...
Re:Sucks to be poor (Score:5, Informative)
Well, they're known as payday loan companies and once you get on that wheel, it's impossible to get off it. Those companies structure their loans in such a way that basically ensure once you're in, you're stuck in the never ending cycle of constantly using them over and over again.
What's even worse is generally speaking how close to disaster a lot of people are - it just takes one bad even and basically life as you know it collapses. A car accident, for example can start the spiral downwards into homelessness and other things.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. Typical signs of a 2nd or 3rd world country without a modern civilization.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. Typical signs of a 2nd or 3rd world country without a modern civilization.
2nd world?
The odd thing is, the 2nd world tended to have this kind of thing under control until they ceased to exist.
The original definitions:
1st world: US, NATO and allies, so comprising most of the worlds richest nations.
2nd world: Soviet Union, CIS and allies... They don't exist any more, which is why no-one talks about them.
3rd world: Nations unaligned with either power. They were mostly poor hence 3rd world became synonymous with poor nations. Fun fact, Thailand was and remains a 1st world na
Re: (Score:3)
It takes less than a car accident... most of the time the need for a payday loan is already proof of a financial collapse in progress. Almost nobody gets one with the explicit knowledge that their next payday closes the gap without another loan.
Payday loans are slightly more honest than "Don't pay for 2 years!" loans. But both are predatory. If you can't afford to buy the furniture today, what makes you think you can buy it in 24 months? Worse... 24 months "interest free" except that if you can't pay the fu
Re: (Score:2)
It takes less than a car accident... most of the time the need for a payday loan is already proof of a financial collapse in progress. Almost nobody gets one with the explicit knowledge that their next payday closes the gap without another loan.
Payday loans are slightly more honest than "Don't pay for 2 years!" loans. But both are predatory. If you can't afford to buy the furniture today, what makes you think you can buy it in 24 months? Worse... 24 months "interest free" except that if you can't pay the full amount in 24 months, the interest extends back to the purchase date...
That's why I object so deeply to the offer Walmart now extends on groceries - "spread your purchase across 4 payments". For food? What's the use case for this that doesn't signal future financial collapse?
The US's addiction to credit has become that bad.
Worse yet, it's unsecured credit.
First it was just "put everything on the card to get the magic beans we're pretending aren't being paid for out of our own money", but now you've grocery stores acting like an amateur mafia loan shark.
The US needs to think about saving rather then spending, you don't need a new car every 2 years.. or a bigger house... Seeing all of your pay leave your account almost as soon as it hits it to service your credit card bi
Re: (Score:2)
I am deeply disturbed by how close to making sense that came.
coming soon apple loan 30% APR! (Score:1)
coming soon apple loan 30% APR!
Re: (Score:2)
coming soon apple loan 30% APR!
On the Google Play store? Because, you know, that's what we're talking about here...
Re: (Score:2)
The everyone gets to complain about Apple and also blame the victim for using a non standard store.
The Google business model... (Score:2)
The result of doing business with a company where "you" are the product...
Google is not "ineffective"... (Score:2)
They just do not care. For users, Google does the minimum it thinks it can get away with.
Predatory loans? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Reading the apps reviews, like borrowing up to $1,000, but having to pay back $1,700 USD full amount ($700 USD interest) after only (7) days later.
Yeah, Android freedom! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Libertarians will defend those apps.
They won't just defend them, they'll jack off to the idea of creating a loan app and getting rich off of other people's misery.
Use AI to police the store (Score:2)
Here's an idea. Have Google train an AI model to determine when certain phone permissions don't make sense for a type of app. Allow the app vendor to appeal to a human at Google, but make the default be automatic suspension of flagged apps.
Of course, this assumes that (1) Google cares about the problem and (2) Google is willing to spend money on the AI model and the humans in the appeal process. In reality, the people being harmed aren't Google customers (i.e., aren't giving any money to Google), so Goog
Reviews of JoyCredit (Score:1)
Reviews:
https://play-google-com.transl... [translate.goog]
The company says that terms vary. However, the below review seems extreme interest:
"The cons: They lend you very little, they only give you 7 days to pay and the interest is EXAGGERATELY HIGH. They lent me $600 and I paid 1,022.00"
In other news (Score:2)
Applet users who give-away their privacy discover, they need their privacy.
It's almost like crime is more common when a victim helps the criminal.
Google making money on each install (Score:2)
so why would they be interested in dealing with this problem?
It's just like the Walmart scam.