Online micro-loan systems have revolutionized financing as they appeal to to those Desperate for the latesst iphone, smart TV or NIKE shoes.
These schemes started by offering a month-to-month plan and breaking price tags down into manageable morsels and now they have taken to accepting Nude photos as collateral.
In a country where cost of living is high and the chances of getting a credit card are relatively low, this new form of e-commerce has opened up a world of possibilities for a whole lot of millennials. and Gen Z’s.
On the flip side however, for you to access these easy to use online loan schemes, you might have to first send them some nudes.
A number of dodgy lenders have realized that young shoppers are desperate for loans, and are demanding that customers hand over naked selfies as collateral. If the repayments aren’t made on time, the money lenders threaten to leak those selfies to the individual’s family and friends. Many also charge interest on the original loan, thus burying their victims further in debt and forcing them to send more pictures and videos. These kinds of services are known in China as “naked loans.”
In 2016 a total of 10 gigabits of nudes from 161 young women—all of who were holding their photo IDs—were leaked online by microlenders. Most of the victims were aged between 19 and 23, and typically borrowed sums of money between $1,000 and $2,000, according to state media outlet China Youth Daily. Others were reportedly given the option to do sex work in order to pay off their loan.
So rampant is the problem of naked loan services in China that last year the country’s financial regulators vowed to crack down on unlicensed microlenders, Reuters reports. A multi-ministry task force said that “Amid the rapid development of cash loans—while they have played a role in meeting the normal credit needs of some groups—problems such as over-lending, repeat borrowing, improper collection, abnormally high-interest rates, and privacy violations have become prominent.”
Since then, new rules have been introduced forbidding unlicensed organizations and individuals from conducting a lending business. Nonetheless, local media reports suggest that the problem is still rife on social media.
