THE RISKS OF LOAN SHARKS
Borrowing money from a loan shark can seem like your only option but they are illegal and could mean you pay exorbitant interest rates
Sadly, not everyone has friends and family to turn to when they hit hard times. An estimated four per cent turn to an unlicensed lender or loan shark. It’s not just low-income households that are struggling. Many people are simply overstretched and have nobody to turn to, leaving them vulnerable to illegal money lenders. Out of the four per cent who did, over half have children and more than a third earned more than £3,000 a month.
A loan shark is a lender operating illegally with no licence or authorisation. They often appear friendly and helpful at first to gain your trust, but quickly resort to intimidation and extortion demands.
If you turn to someone you have been recommended to that’s a stranger, it’s likely to be a loan shark.
It’s important to remember that lending to friends and family doesn’t make you a loan shark – lending to various strangers commercially for a profit does.
Crucially, you have not committed a crime if you borrow from a loan shark – they have.
Support and protection are available from:
- England and Wales: Stop Loan Sharks stoploansharks.co.uk
- Scotland: Illegal Money Lending Unit stopillegallending.co.uk
- Northern Ireland: PSNI psni.police.uk/safety-and-support/advice-and-information/illegal-money-lending
The UK Government has a website where you can report a loan shark and check if a lender is registered and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority gov.uk/report-loan-shark.
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