A loan shark – or illegal money lender - is someone who lends money illegally without proper authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
That means if you borrow from them, they don’t have to follow the rules – they can decide how much you pay back and when.
These criminals are not always easy to spot - they can be a friend, a fellow service member, even a senior officer.
Whoever they are, they will usually appear as a friendly face, offering you a favour. They may tell you that what they are offering is nothing more than peer-to-peer lending and their offer may seem hard to resist.
But very quickly the situation can spiral out of control, and you could find yourself having to pay back much more than you initially borrowed. You might even be subjected to threats, violence and intimidation if you struggle to make a payment.
There are some signs that you can look out for, which may indicate that an agreement has crossed the line from peer-to-peer lending into more sinister and dangerous territory.
