London,
04
September
2015
|
13:32
Europe/London

Help for victims of loan sharks

We have recently joined forces with the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) to tackle illegal money lending within the borough.

Together with our trading standards team, the IMLT will focus on investigating and prosecuting illegal money lenders who operate within our community, to make it a safer place for individuals, families and businesses.

Although there is also no ‘typical’ appearance of an illegal money lender, or ‘loan shark’, which can make them hard to spot, they typically work by getting close to and building up trust with the people they want to take advantage of, offering to lend money when someone is down on their luck or has explored all other options of borrowing. They don’t provide paperwork, because they don’t want any record of their activities and often increase interest rates with no warning once the loan has been accepted. This can lead to a vicious cycle of borrowing more to pay off the original loan and they often threaten violence to get what they want.

If the above sounds familiar, or if you have been offered a deal that seems too good to be true, you may have encountered a loan shark.

There is help available.

You can report a loan shark anonymously to the IMLT. Whether you have borrowed money, know someone who has, or are concerned there is a loan shark operating in your community, get in touch. You and your family will be offered support and protected by the law. Remember, the loan shark is the one who has broken the law, not you.

Get in touch

You can contact the Illegal Money Lending Team 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Find out more

Visit the IMLT’s Facebook page or the Stand up to loan sharks page on our website.