Does your local shop or post office have a community noticeboard or somewhere people can display postcard ads?
It’s a great service, but in among the job ads, items for sale and music lessons you may occasionally find a card offering small loans – and there is a chance that the person behind that ad is acting illegally.
The England Illegal Money Lending Team, a national organisation dedicated to investigating and prosecuting loan sharks and supporting borrowers, is cracking down on loan sharks who might use this way to advertise their services, and they need help from shoppers to spot them.
A person who lends money and charges interest without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting illegally and is known as a loan shark. They are not bound by rules that protect borrowers and can charge whatever interest they choose. Sometimes they use threats, intimidation and violence to make sure repayments are made.
These illegal lenders find all sorts of ways to prey on the most vulnerable in communities and one of these could be through postcards on community noticeboards or in shop windows.
The IMLT – which also goes by the name Stop Loan Sharks – is asking members of the public and shopkeepers who spot one of these cards to report it, so that checks can be carried out. The campaign is targeting the people placing the ads, not the retailers where the card is spotted – they have done nothing wrong.
There is a form on the Stop Loan Sharks website – https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/report-a-loan-shark-advert/ – where anyone can report suspicious cards, anonymously if preferred.
Retailers might be asked to remove any suspicious cards and replace it with one from the IMLT which gives people information about where they can seek help and where they can go to borrow safely if they need to.
The IMLT was set up 20 years ago and since then has supported over 32,000 people, written off over £91.3 million worth of illegal debt and secured over 427 prosecutions for illegal money lending, leading to more than 609 years in jail.
If you think you, or anyone you know, has been targeted by a loan shark, you can contact the Stop Loan Sharks team by calling the 24/7 confidential hotline 0300 555 2222 or joining a live chat which is available on the website from Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.