Stockport loan shark victim tells of spiralling debt ordeal

Illegal money lending sees people being charged vastly inflated rates of interest

A woman who found herself at the mercy of an extortionate loan shark has described how "scary" they can be as police raided homes in a crackdown on illegal lenders.

A man and a woman aged 42 and 43 have been arrested after the Greater Manchester Police raids in Stockport.

Victims are charged "extortionate" interest on loans and they can "very quickly" spiral, said police.

The woman said using them was "easy to get into but very hard to get out".

She told BBC Radio Manchester she "dreads to think" how much she has borrowed but it ran into thousands of pounds.

"It was over several years but what you borrow is nearly doubled," the woman, from Stockport, said.

"Luckily we managed to cut back a bit, get rid of them then got credit."

'No alternative'

She said she knows of other people who have had worse experiences.

"It's scary. I've known people who have sold things out of the house and had no other alternative," she said.

"It's easy to get into but very hard to get out of."

Raids have taken place in Stockport, leading to two arrests

She said loan sharks were taking advantage of the cost of living crisis by "preying on vulnerable people which, at the moment, we all are".

Ch Insp Val North said things can swiftly spiral out of control and in extreme cases victims are even forced to repay by prostitution.

"Often people are embarrassed about the fact they have turned to an illegal money lender," she said.

"Sometimes the family won't know. It really is a horrible crime and obviously when you get into the situation where sexual favours are being demanded you begin to lose all sense of self worth and self respect."

Somebody might be borrowing £50 that becomes £500 that becomes £1,000 that then becomes £5,000, she said.

"With the extortionate interests that these people are charging that can happen very, very quickly and the victim probably doesn't even realise what is happening to them."

Cath Williams is from the England Illegal Money Lending Team, a government-funded group that investigates and prosecutes illegal money lenders and supports victims.

She said a recent report by the Centre of Social Justice estimated 1.8m people in England are currently using loan sharks.

Ms Williams added it was a "three-fold increase" on previous research 10 years ago.

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