Online Loans Made In China Using Nude Pictures As Collateral

HughPickens.com writes: There is more than one way to get a student loan in China as People's Daily Online reports that many Chinese university students use their nude pictures as IOUs on online lending platforms, putting themselves at the risks of having everybody -- including their parents -- see them naked. Borrowers are also required to upload pictures of their ID cards and report their family information, including their address and cellphone numbers. "The nude photos will be made public if the borrowers fail to repay their debts with interest," an insider was quoted as saying. The credit varies based on the borrower's education background. Usually an undergraduate student can receive 15,000 yuan ($2,277) in credit, while those studying at famous universities as well as doctorate students can receive even larger loans. Snapshots of threatening collection messages have also gone viral, with a photo of a female borrower and a message reading how the lender would send the photo and her naked video footage to her family members if she could not pay back her 10,000 yuan borrowed on an annual interest rate of 24 percent within a week. "Naked IOUs started long ago. Not only university students but many others also borrowed money with nude pictures," says insider surnamed Zhang. Zuo Shenggao from Jingshi Law Firm says that nude photos are actually invalid as collateral in terms of laws. "Nude photos are not property. It is in the category of reputation rights," says Shenggao. "If anyone threatens to publish the photos online, they will violate the clients' reputation. At the same time, they are also spreading pornographic material. Both are illegal and they will commit double offense,"

Comments

So, when the inevitable happens...

[MiniMike]

So when someone hacks in to the lenders server, steals the pictures, and posts them (which will undoubtedly happen) will the loans be forgiven?

Faaaaaake

[DNS-and-BIND]

There are a constant stream of fake stories out of Chinese media on a daily basis. This smells just like one of them. Wait for the retraction in a few days. In the meantime, shame on Slashdot for posting obvious crap. Let this kind of shit stay on TMZ and Gawker where it belongs.

Hallmarks of a hoax

[gurps_npc]

1) Foreign story - in China.

2) Plays to a cultural stereotype - Chinese are overly concerned with 'face'.

3) Coverage is via an unheard of news sight, rather than major media.

Also - there is no power for the person that takes out the loan - once you give them the power to blackmail you there is no reason for them to stop just at the amount you owe. What if they get hacked?

No - stupid business idea. Probably a fake story