“Did someone give our contact out to loan apps? Alend, Xtraloan… Why are they sending me messages about taking [out a] loan?” Travel and media creative Tomisin Oyerinde asked on July 22.
Hers is one of several complaints Nigerians have made about online loan platforms like Alend, which regularly send offers in unsolicited messages.
FIJ scoured through social media and found several Nigerians questioning how their phone numbers were obtained.
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Like Oyerinde, Festus Ogun, a lawyer, also complained about receiving similar messages from the loan app even though he had no business with it.
Ogun said he was considering privacy breaches and possible legal resolutions.
Lilian Ebubeogu, a food nutritionist, posted on April 26, “Just this afternoon, someone or some person is trying to take a loan with my phone number. The name of the loan app is Newedge. I know that the only way they have a hold of my number and BVN will be through using loan apps like Alend.”
Others can be seen here and here.
FIJ saw some of the repetitive messages the app sends to random people. The messages read, “You have exclusive 527,000 naira reserve fund. Valid long-term. Open Alend for chance to get interest-free loan.”
FIJ called the company on Wednesday to ask how they obtain phone numbers, but the responder asked that the questions be sent in a WhatsApp message.
At press time, the loan app’s representative had not responded to the text message.
The post Alend Loan App Sends Unsolicited Offers to Nigerians Who Never Gave Consent appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.