Stop Loan Sharks is a government initiative to target unlicensed money lenders in order to prevent them from targeting those who are financially vulnerable.
What is a loan shark?
A ‘loan shark' is someone who is lending money to individuals without a licence to do so from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
How do loan sharks work?
Loan sharks typically loan money to individuals in their community who are struggling to keep on top of their finances.
Most loan sharks will probably:
• Use threats or violence to get money from you if you miss a payment.
• Charge extremely high interest rates on the money that you owe to them. They may also add additional charges to your loan at any point.
• Not give you any paperwork, making it hard to keep track of how much you borrowed, and how much you still owe them.
• Take your bank cards from you as ‘security'.
• Be involved in other illegal activities.
What should you do if you have been borrowing from a loan shark?
If you have borrowed money from someone who doesn't have a licence, you haven't broken the law - they have.
You can report them in confidence, by:
• Calling 0300 555 2222, or
• Texting loan shark and the details you want to pass on to 60003, or
• Sending an email to reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk.
