There have been issues with loan apps accessing people’s contacts and sending defamatory messages to their contact lists when they fail to repay the loans as due. This practice has existed since the trend of quick loan apps began in 2021. This is only common with fake loan apps claiming that their least loan repayment duration is 61 days, and after seven days, they threaten you. Hence, most Nigeria asks, “How do you stop loan apps from accessing your contacts.”
Loan harassment is not only common in Nigeria. This guide on how you can stop the so-called loan apps from accessing your contacts is useful for users in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines, the United States, the United Kingdom, and any other country that is experiencing low performances in data protection resulting to the high level of loan harassment in their country.
How to Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts.
The best way to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts is not to download the apps at all. If you have them downloaded on your phone already, do not borrow money from them, thereby not giving them access to your contact list.
This option would help you to block loan apps from accessing your contacts in any country, including the United Kingdom, Philippines, India, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Canada, United States, etc.
If none of those options helps you,
Follow these steps to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts
- Go to Settings on your phone
- Open Apps under settings
- Click on Permissions
- Select Contacts under permissions
- Choose the loan app to disable
- Click on Remove permissions
- That is all to stop the app from accessing your contacts
You can repeat the same steps to remove location permission, etc. However, the truth is that you cannot stop a loan app from accessing your contacts when you borrow from them. When you access a loan app to borrow, your contacts are usually used as your guarantee for loan repayment. It simply acts as your collateral.
Your contact information is immediately downloaded into the loan app’s external database, including your personal information, such as your name, passport photograph, BVN, and phone number, immediately after you borrow a loan from them. The truth here is that even if you uninstall the app or delete the app after borrowing from them, you are still at their mercy because they already have access to your contacts.
However, if you are fast enough, you can actually stop them from accessing further information on your mobile phone. To do so, you have to disable the permission you granted them. To do this, go to your phone settings, scroll down to permission, and stop the loan app from accessing your phone storage, gallery, contact, or SMS. You have to be very fast for this to be successful. So, in this case, they only have your name and your phone number, so they only deal with you personally.
Another potent way that you can stop loan apps from accessing your contacts is by repaying your borrowed loan when due and uninstalling the app from your phone. So, you have to pay first before deleting the app. This way, you are free from their embracement.
How to Stop Loan Apps from Sending Messages to My Contacts
The best way to stop loan apps from sending messages to your contacts is by not taking a loan from the loan app in the first place. When you don’t patronize them, they won’t have access to your contact; talk less about sending messages to them.
Loan apps only send messages to your contact list when you don’t pay your dues on time. These messages are usually threatening and defamatory messages. Do note that this only applies to fake loan apps, as we covered in this article earlier.
Original loan apps are not known for this. Sometimes, they go as far as calling your contact list and telling them to warm you. You must have read about how fake loan apps have destroyed the image of individuals by sending threatening messages to their contact lists.
If you must borrow money, please patronize authentic loan apps, and leave fake loan apps, they will only embarrass you. This post is about loan apps sending messages to contacts in Nigeria, which has become rampant. I hope our guide helps you come through.
How Do I Stop An App From Accessing My Information?
To stop an app from accessing your information is very simple. Kindly follow these steps to stop an app from accessing your information.
Option 1: Don’t grant the app permission
First of all, you need to understand that not all apps deserve to get permission to access your information. Some of them should end up just installing them and never giving them access to your private information such as contacts, messages, etc.
Option 2: Remove Permissions from Settings
If you have granted the app access to your information, that is fine. You can still remove the permissions by going to your phone settings, selecting the app, and proceeding to remove the permission. After that, the app would stop having access to your information.
Sometimes, these apps might download a copy of your information already into their server (database) and would only take an in-house person to remove them. Endeavour to read the terms of any app you are downloading to know what information they collect from you.
Option 3: Uninstall the App
Another alternative is to remove the app completely from your phone. If you remove an app from your phone, it will stop collecting your information if you have already given it permission.
You can also use a phone cleaning app to wipe the remaining app from existence completely, and you would be safe from there. You can also go to the Google Play store to be sure that the app doesn’t have any pending debit on your credit/debit cards.
Conclusion
Fake loan apps are known to access your contacts and send threatening messages to them when you default after a ridiculous loan tenure. The best way to prevent all this is not to patronize these fake loans at all. For additional information, check “Top 10 Instant Loan Apps Without Salaried Accounts in Nigeria.“
