Illegal lenders
A loan shark is a person who lends money and asks for repayments without being licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
These lenders often charge high and illegal rates of interest, causing borrowers to amass huge debts or forcing them to take out further loans to keep up with repayments.
People who borrow from loan sharks are at risk of intimidation and harassment.
They also don’t have the same legal protections as those who borrow from legitimate lenders.
Key warning signs that somebody may be a loan shark include not being given paperwork or details about a loan.
They may use threatening and intimidating behaviour, or demand that you hand over items like bank cards or a passport until you can repay.
Stop Loan Sharks, set up by the England Illegal Money Lending Team, raises awareness of the dangers of this type of borrowing and works with the FCA to investigate loan sharks.
It also prosecutes illegal lenders and supports people affected by this crime in England.
Targeted
Tim (not his real name) has early-onset Alzheimer’s and borrowed money from someone he considered to be a friend.
Following his diagnosis, Tim retired earlier than he would have liked and borrowed £1,200 in total due to unexpected expenses.
He struggled to keep up repayments and woke up one morning to find that his car had been vandalised.
The police put the man in touch with Stop Loan Sharks and he is no longer being harassed.
Since 2012, Stop Loan Sharks has seen 21 cases involving people affected by dementia. Of the people it supported in 2022, 8% were carers.
In one case, a woman caring for her father, who has dementia, owed loan sharks around £75,000.
She borrowed from friends and family to try to make repayments but couldn’t keep up and had her property damaged.
Thankfully, she received support after reaching out to Stop Loan Sharks.
