We have received many phone calls, messages, and questions both online and offline from loan app customers and borrowers, many of them asking about: How To Stop Loan Apps From Accessing Your Contacts? After doing extensive research and reading across the board, I have therefore decided to address this question more deeply.
READ ALSO: Top 7 Best Loan Apps In Nigeria For Instant Cash
Therefore if you have been asking the question: “How to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts”? This article will review and provide specific answers to your question. It’s been a popular question worldwide since the introduction of Fintech loan apps and digital lending platforms. However, the response to this question will be based on a further breakdown of the stages the question relates to. Is it before you download the loan app, after you have downloaded the app on your phone and received a loan from them or after you have deleted and uninstalled the loan app (whether you collected a loan or not?)
How Can I Stop Loan Apps From Accessing My Contacts?
The best way to stop loan apps from accessing your contacts is not to download the apps at all. If you already downloaded on your phone, do not borrow money from them thereby not giving them access to your contact list. To deny and disable loan apps permission to access your phone and contact list, do the following:
- Step 1: Go to Settings on your phone.
- Step 2: Open Apps under settings.
- Step 3: Click on Permissions.
- Step 4: Select Contacts under permissions.
- Step 5: Choose the loan app to disable and remove permissions.
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 stored in their database used as your lending guarantee for loan repayment. It simply acts as your collateral.
Your contact immediately gets downloaded into the loan app’s external database, including your personal information like 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 already.
However, if you are fast enough, you can actually stop loan companies from accessing further information on your mobile phone. To do so, you have to:
- Disable the permission you granted them. 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 to deal with.
- Repay your borrowed loan as at when due and uninstall the app from your phone. This way, you are free from their embarrassment.
How to Stop Loan Apps from Sending Messages to Your Contacts
The best way to stop loan apps from sending messages to your contact is by:
- Not borrowing money from the loan app in the first place. When you don’t patronize them, they won’t have access to your contacts let alone sending messages to them.
- Paying down on any debt you are owing the lending platform. Apps only send threatening and defamatory messages to your contact lists when you don’t pay your dues on time.
How Do I Stop Online Loan Sharks from Accessing My Information And Sending Messages to my Contacts?
To stop online loan sharks and fake loan apps from accessing your information and sending messages to your contacts is very simple. Kindly follow these steps.
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.
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 and selecting the app and proceeding to remove the permission. After that, the app would stop having access to your information.
In some cases, 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. Endeavor to read the terms of any app you are downloading to know what information they collect from you.
Uninstall the App
Another alternative is to remove the app completely from your phone. If you remove an app from your phone it would stop collecting your information if you already gave it permission.
How To Prevent Loan Companies From Accessing Your Contacts on Android and iOS Devices
To prevent loan apps from ever accessing your phone and contact list on your android and iOS devices, do the following:
- Do not download any lending app on your phone.
- Do not approve or collect any loan from the loan apps if you ever downloaded anyone on your phone, (either mistakenly or inadvertently).
- Do not give permission on your phone for any loan app to access your contact list. That essentially means you cannot have access to collect their loans.
- And of course, do not collect any instant loan from a lending platform.
However, you can still stop a loan app from further accessing your phone contacts if you have already collected a loan from it. To do this, safely uninstall the app and do not patronize their services anymore. However, your previous contacts remain in their database if you ever collected a loan from them.
If you accidentally gave permission to an app to access your contacts and messages, how do you stop this?
If you are using an Android device and you have mistakenly downloaded a fraudulent app, or If you are indebted to any of the illegal loan platforms, and you are afraid of defamatory messages to your contacts, then take the following steps.
Go to settings in your android phone, and click on apps and notifications. Scroll down to app permission and deny them access to your contacts, sms, photo gallery, and storage on your phone, they won’t be able to reach out to your phone contacts anymore or post your pictures and details to social media. They would only have your number and have only you to deal with.
However if you haven’t installed any lending app on your phone, or you have installed but not yet collected a loan from the app, or you are still contemplating on collecting a loan and you haven’t given permission on your phone for the app to access your contacts, then you can very well stop loan apps from accessing your contacts.
How do I block messages from loan apps?
- Go to your messages app. (make sure it is the default / original message app by google.)
- Next, tap the three-dot menu that is at the top right.
- Select block number.
- If you do not see the block number option, continue with the steps below.
- Choose the details option.
- From here, select block and report as spam.
- Tap ‘OK’ to block all messages from this sender in the future.
How Can I Stop Online Loan Harassment in Nigeria?
The best way to report online loan harassment in Nigeria is to report it to the Google Playstore,(Google Play Protect) while the second option is to report such app to an online media platform or to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) so the harassment could be publicized and gain awareness and perhaps the government get to see it and take immediate actions.
Are you a victim of online loan harassment, cyberbullying, defamation and threats, character assassination, and other illegal activities of lending apps in Nigeria? Well, you can report such activities to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) by sending an email to lenderstaskforce@fccpc.gov.ng and stating your encounter with the platform.
How Can I Stop Online Loan Sharks’ Harassment In Nigeria
Once you have downloaded a loan app or loan sharks’s platform and already borrowed money from them, the best way to stop online loan shark harassment is to simply pay off the loan you owe. Once you have settled your debt, uninstall and delete the loan application from your smart phone. Then, do not borrow anymore from the loan sharks again.
What Are The Legit Loan Apps in Nigeria for quick loan approval and disbursement?
The top 10 best loan apps in Nigeria in 2023 that are legit with the fastest loan approvals include but not limited to Branch Loan App, Carbon Loan App, FairMoney App, Aella Credit, Umba Loan App, QuickCheck App, Alatby Wema App among other reputable and trusted apps with fast loan application processes, lowest interest rates, customer data privacy, and loans are disbursed within few minutes.
How do I remove my information from loan app? How to delete my data from a Loan App
Step 1: Log in to the Loan App. You must log in to the Loan App to begin the removal process. …
Step 2: Access the Configuration Section of the Loan App
Step 3: Uninstall the app
Step 4: Revitalize your device
How do I get loan apps to stop calling my contacts?
Step 1: Go to Settings on your phone.
Step 2: Open Apps under settings.
Step 3: Click on Permissions.
Step 4: Select Contacts under permissions.
Step 5: Choose the loan app to disable and remove permissions.
Can a loan app blacklist my BVN?
If you have collected a loan from a digital lending app or a financial institution in Nigeria and fail to repay the loan, your Bank Verification Number (BVN) may be blacklisted if your credit platform report you to the Credit Bureau authorities. Once your BVN has been blacklisted, you won’t be able to access loan in the near future anymore from any lending platform. This helps to reduce the chances of illegal banking transactions and facilitates national financial intelligence.
Conclusion
The loan apps you borrow from uses your contact list as collateral and guarantee in case you default on your repayment. Please note that you may not be able to completely stop loan apps from accessing your contacts, if you already borrowed money from them. Why is this? Because your phone contacts will immediately be downloaded safely on the loan apps’ external database against your name, BVN, and other profile details and even though you later deleted or uninstalled the loan app, it makes no difference. You stand in their mercy.
However, you can prevent the lending apps from perpetually accessing your contacts? You can stop them from further accessing your phone contacts and other details until you have granted permission. How do you get this done?
