Reporting Harassment by Online Lending Applications in the Philippines

A practical legal guide for borrowers, families, and employers

Disclaimer: This article provides general information on Philippine law and procedures. It is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer on your specific facts.

1) Why this matters

Online lending applications (OLAs) have expanded access to short-term credit in the Philippines, but some engage in abusive and unlawful collection practices—from “debt-shaming” texts to threats and mass messages to a borrower’s contacts. Philippine law protects borrowers from such harassment and provides multiple avenues for reporting and redress.

2) What counts as harassment and unlawful collection

Harassment may be civil, administrative, or criminal misconduct, including:

Debt shaming: messaging your phone contacts, posting your photo/details online, group chats announcing your “debt,” or tagging your employer.
Threats/Intimidation: threats of harm, arrest, criminal cases for “estafa” merely for non-payment, threats to raid your workplace, or to contact minors/elderly relatives at odd hours.
Defamation: false statements portraying you as a criminal or a fraud.
Privacy intrusions: scraping your contacts, photos, SMS, or location without valid, informed, and freely given consent; using permissions beyond what’s necessary for the loan.
Unfair/Deceptive acts: hidden fees, misrepresenting the amount due, refusing to provide a statement of account, or collecting on an unregistered or suspended lending app.

Non-payment of a purely civil loan is not a crime. Collectors cannot lawfully threaten you with arrest for simple default.

3) The legal framework (Philippine context)

Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA): Requires lawful, transparent, and proportionate processing of personal data. Collectors must have a valid basis for accessing contacts/photos and must respect purpose limitation and data minimization. Unauthorized disclosure to your contacts can be punishable.
Lending Company Regulation Act (LCRA) and SEC rules: Lending and financing companies must be registered, follow content and disclosure standards, and avoid abusive collection. The SEC can suspend or revoke certificates and order apps taken down.
Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA, 2022): Establishes standards of fair treatment, disclosure, and redress across financial products. For OLAs under SEC supervision, abusive collection and misrepresentation may trigger enforcement and restitution.
Cybercrime Prevention Act & Revised Penal Code: Threats, coercion, unjust vexation, and libel/cyber-libel may apply when collectors defame or threaten borrowers online.
Anti-Wiretapping Act: Recording private conversations without the required consent may violate the law. When in doubt, avoid surreptitious audio recording and rely on screenshots, written logs, and witness corroboration.

Different agencies have different remits: SEC (lending/financing companies, online lending platforms), National Privacy Commission (NPC) (privacy/data abuses), PNP/NBI (criminal harassment, threats, libel), BSP/IC/CDA (if the entity is a bank/insurance/co-op; most OLAs are SEC-regulated).

4) Your rights as a borrower

To be treated fairly: no threats, profanities, or shaming.
To privacy: no mass messaging of your contacts or scraping of photos beyond a lawful, necessary purpose.
To information: clear terms, computation of charges, and a verifiable statement of account.
To redress: file complaints with regulators and law enforcement; seek civil damages for defamation or privacy breaches.

5) First-aid steps when harassment starts

Preserve evidence immediately
- Save screenshots of messages, caller IDs, app permissions, and posts.
- Export chat histories; keep call logs and voicemails.
- Keep copies of loan agreements, payment receipts, and any in-app disclosures/consents.
Limit further exposure
- Revoke app permissions (Contacts, Storage, Camera, Location) in your phone settings.
- Change passwords; enable two-factor authentication on email and socials.
- Inform close contacts that they may receive harassing messages and ask them to preserve (not delete) evidence.
Request formal validation
- Ask for a Statement of Account (SOA) showing principal, interest, fees, and payments; require email delivery to create a record.
Stop abusive calls/texts
- You may send a cease-and-desist note (sample below) demanding they channel communications to email and refrain from contacting third parties.
Pay only what’s legitimately due
- If you dispute charges, say so in writing and ask for a recomputation. Payment under protest is possible; keep receipts.

6) Where and how to report (multi-track strategy)

You can file in parallel—the tracks below are complementary.

A. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – Abusive collection & unregistered OLAs

Who: Lending/financing companies and online lending platforms.
What to submit: Borrower ID; screenshots of harassment; app name, links; SOA/loan details; explanation of abusive acts.
What the SEC can do: Order takedowns, fines, suspension/revocation of licenses; refer criminal cases; direct restitution in some cases.

B. National Privacy Commission (NPC) – Privacy/Data abuses

Who: Any entity processing personal data (collectors, parent company, third-party “aggregators”).
Grounds: Unlawful scraping of contacts/photos; disclosure to third parties; lack of informed consent; excessive permissions; failure to honor data subject rights.
Relief: Compliance orders, penalties, and directions to erase unlawfully obtained or disclosed data.

C. PNP-CIDG / NBI-Cybercrime / Prosecutor – Criminal acts

Who: Individual collectors and corporate officers who issue threats, extort, or defame.
Offenses: Grave threats/coercion, unjust vexation, libel/cyber-libel, identity theft, extortion.
Tip: Prepare a Sinumpaang Salaysay (sworn statement) with annexed screenshots and logs.

D. App stores / Platforms – Practical, fast friction

Report the app for harassment/illegal data practices; include case number(s) from SEC/NPC if available.

E. Employer / School coordination (if contacted)

Provide HR/Administration a short memo: harassment is unlawful; requests to “verify employment” or “collect” should be declined; direct all communications to your counsel or to the appropriate regulator.

7) Evidence checklist (organize like a case file)

ID & contact sheet: your full name, numbers/email used in the loan, device model.
Loan documents: application screenshots; e-contracts; payment proofs.
Timeline: date of loan, due date, reminders, harassment onset; maintain a chronology.
Harassing content: raw screenshots (uncropped if possible) of texts, chat avatars, group posts, caller IDs.
Technical details: app version, permission screens, OS settings pages showing toggles.
Witness statements: short written accounts from contacts who were messaged or called.
Harm: missed work, anxiety, medical consults (for damages); receipts for expenses.

Authenticate: Keep original files with metadata. When printing, add page numbers and label each exhibit (e.g., “Annex C-4”).

8) Cease-and-desist template (borrower to collector)

Subject: Notice of Harassment, Unlawful Collection, and Data Privacy Violations I am [Your Name], borrower under your app [App Name]. Since [date], your agents have engaged in [describe: debt shaming/threats/messaging my contacts].

I demand that you:

Cease contacting my relatives, employer, and other third parties;

Limit communications to my email [email] for account validation and a Statement of Account; and

Delete personal data you obtained or disclosed without my consent beyond what is necessary to service the loan.

Your acts violate Philippine law, including the Data Privacy Act, rules against abusive collection, and criminal laws on threats/defamation. Non-compliance will be reported to the SEC, NPC, and law enforcement.

[Your Name] [Date]

Send by email (and in-app message if possible) so you have proof of delivery.

9) Special issues & FAQs

Can they access my phone contacts if I clicked “Allow Contacts”? Not for debt shaming. Consent must be informed, specific, and freely given for a legitimate purpose. Blanket or buried consents are risky for them; disclosure to third parties to pressure payment is generally unlawful.

Can I record calls for proof? The Anti-Wiretapping Act is strict. Unless you clearly meet a lawful exception, avoid secret audio recording. Instead, take detailed notes after calls, save voicemails, and request follow-ups in writing.

Will I be jailed for non-payment? Default on a civil loan is not criminal. Criminal liability may arise only for separate acts (e.g., fraud at the time of borrowing, or your own threats), which is distinct from mere inability to pay.

The app says they’ll file “estafa.” Estafa requires fraudulent misrepresentation or abuse of confidence—not simple non-payment. Threats to file baseless cases can themselves be unlawful harassment.

They contacted my minor child/elderly parent. That is aggravating and supports complaints to the NPC, SEC, and law enforcement. Document it.

The lender is “offshore.” If it operates in the Philippines or targets Philippine users, local laws and regulators can still act, including blocking apps and pursuing local agents.

10) Remedies and outcomes you can expect

Regulatory enforcement: app takedown, license suspension/revocation, administrative fines, compliance orders to delete unlawfully processed data.
Criminal accountability: for threats, coercion, libel/cyber-libel, extortion, and related offenses by individual collectors and responsible officers.
Civil relief: damages for defamation, invasion of privacy, and emotional distress; injunctions against further harassment.

11) Drafting your complaints (structure)

Header

Your name, address, ID; respondent’s corporate name/app name, addresses/URLs.

Narrative

Clear, date-ordered facts (loan grant → due date → first harassment → continuing acts).

Violations

Cite: abusive collection; unlawful disclosure of personal data; threats/defamation; operation without proper registration (if applicable).

Prayer for Relief

Take down app; order deletion of unlawfully processed data; penalize respondents; require correct SOA; and any other just relief.

Annexes

Label and paginate all evidence.

12) For employers, schools, and HR officers who receive collector calls

Adopt a no-verification policy for third-party debt inquiries absent a lawful court order or written employee consent.
Direct collectors to legal@yourdomain; log the call; do not confirm employment or share schedules/locations.
Provide the employee a copy of the call log for their complaints.

13) Risk-management for borrowers (before using any OLA)

Check registration of the lender and read recent user complaints.
Permissions hygiene: deny Contacts/Photos unless indispensable; prefer web portals over apps when possible.
Keep buffers: avoid linking your primary email/number; use separate accounts for high-risk services.
Read fees: watch for “processing fees” deducted upfront; compute true APR.

14) Simple timelines

Evidence preservation: immediately (Day 0).
Cease-and-desist: within 24–48 hours after harassment starts.
File complaints: as soon as you have a coherent set of annexes; updates can follow when new evidence arrives.
Follow-ups: track case numbers and add any new incidents as supplemental filings.

15) Common pitfalls

Deleting abusive messages (lose metadata). Archive instead.
Paying phantom fees just to “stop the texts.” This can embolden further abuse.
Relying only on chat screenshots without showing profile URLs/phone numbers and timestamps.
Secret call recordings that risk violating wiretapping laws.
Naming the wrong legal entity (apps often use brand names; identify the underlying company in your complaint when possible).

16) One-page action plan (printable)

Collect & freeze evidence (screenshots, logs, SOA request).
Harden privacy (revoke permissions; warn contacts).
Send cease-and-desist and request SOA.
File parallel complaints: regulatory (SEC/NPC) + criminal (PNP/NBI/Prosecutor) if threats/defamation.
Update filings with new incidents.
Consider civil action for damages if harm is significant.

Staying organized, documenting every incident, and pursuing parallel remedies give you the best chance of stopping harassment and holding abusive online lenders accountable under Philippine law.