Loan sharks being arrested during 2015 for illegal lending

Loans sharks are on the look out as the Trading Standards enforcement arm, the Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLT), are arresting hundreds of people across the UK. Over the last year there have been over 100 loan sharks arrested by the organisation as these individuals have been lending money at outrageous APRs, scamming families or taking other questionable practices with consumers.

There are still millions of individuals that are struggling to get availability to credit. Many of them are considered to be vulnerable, and include older or younger people, the disabled, homeless, and those with poor credit scores. The actions taken by the Illegal Money Lending Teams will help prospect these potential borrowers.

Many of those arrested have been operating in Wales as well as England, with a small number in Scotland. With payday lenders having more regulations in place and the caps that are impacting the vulnerable, the fear is more people may turn to a loan shark for funds. That can often be an even worse option. So to try to limit any damage when this occurs, the IMLT agency has been putting more resources into cracking down on these lenders as well as offering alternatives.

The other fear is that the roll-out of the Universal Credit benefit will also cause more people to turn to high cost sources of money so they can keep up with their bills. Many loan sharks are targeting the areas in which UC has been implemented already.

There have been over 300 operations held over the course of 2015 with almost 1000 loan sharks identified. Over 1600 people were identified as victims and they were given the help they need. The crackdown is also involved in collecting money on behalf of victims and IMLT has collected almost £2m in cash and assets from the lenders.

Victims of a loan shark can also use other services that are provided to them. Teams from the Illegal Money Lending Teams will offer borrowers debt advice so they now how to budgeting their income and pay down their bills. If someone needs money, then the programmes will refer the client to credit unions, help them repair their credit so they can move into housing, and offer emotional support is offered too.

The enforcement is being done as part of the Stop Loan Sharks project. This involves the work of many agencies, including IMLT, the Financial Conduct Authority, LIAISE officers, and the central government.

Much of this assistance is arranged by LIAISE officers. These individuals are truly the ones that help victims of a loan shark. They also work with the client to help them break the cycle of borrowing. They continue to say never turn to anyone that is not regulated, as the cost involved will hurt the borrower to an immeasurable degree.