Illegal Money Lending Team

The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) continue to work to prevent people from using Loan sharks, and support those who have.

As part of our prevention programme we are running Stop Loan Sharks Week from 30^th November. The message this year is a warning against loan sharks utilising social media, so is particularly relevant for young people. Resources will be made available for this which will be able to be used during or after the week itself. For copies contact:

Catherine.wohlers@birmingham.gov.uk

The team ran a competition for people to write short stories or poems about illegal lending – the 7 winning entries will be turned into audio books and released during the week.

We released 5 podcasts over the summer – one of which featured our education programme targeted at young people, and another that included a victim telling her story. The podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Spotify and are called “Your Money and Your Life”.

The team have launched an app to help educate people about the dangers of loan sharks. You can report a lender through the app, access videos from survivors, learn about the alternatives and receive notification when someone in your area has been arrested or prosecuted. You can also order resources including education packs via the app which can be downloaded here.

The IMLT are offering free online training to people across England about the work that we do. If you would like to access this training please contact Cath Wohlers at the email address above.