What you can do to Stop Loan Sharks with Cath Wohlers

Sep 27, 2022

"They make it feel like it's your fault," says Cath Wohlers about loan sharks. They use manipulation, isolation and coercive control and ruin lives.

Earlier this year a Centre for Social Justice report estimated 1.08 million people in England alone are currently using illegal moneylenders, who prey on financially vulnerable people.

Cath is LIAISE Manager for the England Illegal Money Lending Team. Sharks aren't always easy to recognise. Two thirds of people who the team supported last year thought they were borrowing from a friend, not a loan shark.

She explains the Team's activities during national Stop Loan Sharks Week, and its work 24/7 all year around on prevention, investigation, prosecutions, seizing sharks' assets, and helping people avoid and escape sharks.

And she describes the simple things you can and should do to help. Listen to this important episode to find out.

What next?

• Read our article, The sharks’ feeding frenzy and how to starve them
• Read this FT article from late 2021 which covered how CDFIs help people avoid loan sharks.
• Read Iona Bain’s article in the i newspaper which explains that illegal moneylenders come in many guises and are embracing social media to ensnare people.