SINGAPORE — Mr Alan had no idea that his employee had borrowed from “loan sharks” until he was harassed with almost 120 calls over three days from various unlicensed money lenders.
While harassment from unlicensed moneylenders, or loan shark s, is nothing new, some illegal lenders have adopted new technologically savvy meansEach week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at how loan shark harassment has evolved over time and why more youths have been recruited as runners by illegal money lenders.
Despite legal alternatives like strictly regulated licensed moneylenders and moves to curb harassment by licensing debt collectors, people still turn to loan sharks He immediately terminated the man’s contract for placing his office and other colleagues “at risk” and advised his staff on how to field calls searching for the former employee.
Mr Sebastian Pereira, a sales manager and delivery rider on Foodpanda, also had a taste of another loan-shark tactic when he was out on a delivery last year. From January to May 2024, 8.6 per cent of unlicensed money lending arrests involved youths between the ages of 14 and 19, a spike from 3.1 per cent for the corresponding period in 2023.
On June 8, the police said that 128 persons aged between 14 and 73 were being investigated for their suspected involvement in unlicensed moneylending activities, following a five-day islandwide operation in May.Before the dawn of the digital age, spraying paint and locking gates were among the unlicensed moneylenders’ favourite tools of the trade.
“Around 10 to 15 years ago, used to be on websites. There were popular forums where these were posted, but now it’s gone even deeper, because it’s on Telegram. If you go to Telegram and type ‘Sell ATM card’, you might get something,” said Mr Kalidass from Kalidass Law Corporation.Recent years have also seen the increasing use of social media not only to harass debtors — but also to advertise and contact potential borrowers, such as in unsolicited messages boasting fast approval loans.
“Some of them come from better off families, but because of the attraction and the lifestyle, their daily expenditure, they may spend more as compared to previously,” said Mr Ho.Despite the well-documented horror stories about victims of loan sharks, illegal moneylenders will continue to exist in some form simply because there is demand for them, said experts.
In one case, a man with a failed small business who contracted cancer borrowed money from loan sharks to pay for his family's medical bills. To offset his debts, the loan sharks asked him to hand over his banking information to them. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, MP for Mountbatten Single Member Constituency, pointed to the various agencies that people can turn to.
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