Stop Loan Sharks have resources in 20 different languages to support non-native speakers who are targeted by loan sharks
Stop Loan Sharks investigates and prosecutes illegal money lenders and provides support for borrowers in the UK. If someone you work with has borrowed from a loan shark or are worried about someone else, SLS are here to help and keep them safe. Their specially trained staff will provide them with emotional and practical support that is tailored to their needs.
Over the last 12 months, Stop Loan Sharks have been particularly concerned about illegal money lenders/loan sharks targeting individuals whose first language is not English. Loan sharks target anyone they perceive as vulnerable. For someone who is new to the country who may not speak much English, the process of accessing credit here may seem complicated and protracted. Challenges providing identification, having no/little income, or no credit score, can all result in people being targeted by what may appear to be a concerned local, possibly speaking the same language, offering to ‘help’ with a loan. Unfortunately this can lead to being charged extortionate interest and subjected to a range of threats, intimidation and harassment. Presently, there is a real risk that people are not aware that the situation they are in, is illegal lending and they may not know where to access help and support.
SLS have worked with ClearVoice translation company and now have resources translated into 20 languages, including: Bengali, Dari, Lithuanian, Latvian, Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Chinese (simplified), Czech, Farsi, Hindi, Hungarian, Kurdish Sorani, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Tigrinya.
Please visit https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/resources to access these materials, including social media templates and printed materials to keep in your community space.
Comments