New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- For this 36-year-old IT professional in Mumbai, the dream of a new home came crashing at the final hurdle. His loan was rejected. The reason was a Rs.6.5 lakh personal loan on his credit report that he had never taken.

The fraudulent entry had tanked his Cibil score from a healthy 780 to a dismal 620, instantly making him ineligible, said Deepak Kumar Jain, founder & CEO, CredManager.in, a loan aggregator platform that was handling his portfolio.

He's not alone. A New Delhi-based man was denied a loan over two "settled credit cards" from 2019, despite never owning one. A settled card means the lender closed it after a default, with the customer paying less than the full dues. His case was handled by his relative Ga...