‘Stop Loan Sharks Week’ targets illegal money lending

Blackburn with Darwen Council is backing a national drive aimed at stopping online loan sharks.

Stop Loan Sharks Week 2020 runs from Monday, November 30 to Sunday, December 6 and will be used by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) to raise awareness of illegal money lending on the internet and warn of the dangers of online loan sharks.

IMLT’s #SharkFreeSurfing campaign will run across the Stop Loan Sharks social media platforms with the intention of encouraging not just victims but the wider community to report online illegal money lending activity.

The campaign comes amid concerns more people are falling prey to unscrupulous lenders online as statistics show one in five victims met their lender on social media in the first half of 2020.

Loan sharks are increasingly using social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, to advertise their illegal loans and target potential victims.

These criminals will lure people in with seemingly attractive loan offers but will quickly resort to intimidation, threats and violence to enforce repayment and trap borrowers in a spiral of debt.

Blackburn with Darwen Council pledged earlier this year to support the awareness of illegal money lending by signing a charter aimed at stopping loan sharks.

The Stop Loan Sharks Charter signalled the start of ongoing collaboration across a range of local agencies and organisations to comprehensively address the issue in Blackburn with Darwen.

Alongside the IMLT, local partners and endorsers of the charter include Age UK, Together Housing, Care Network, Together Lancashire and CGL.

Go here for more information on how to protect yourself from loan sharks online.