Nearly every day there is a new story of unlicensed money lenders harassing borrowers in Singapore. These organisations tend to be incredibly ruthless. Recently, a story emerged in which loan sharks threatened a 7-year-old girl. Still, borrowers continue to get tangled up with these groups. How can consumers identify predatory loans and keep these lenders at bay?

The first step in avoiding unlicensed money lenders, also known as ah long or loan sharks, is being able to identify them. To determine whether or not you are dealing with a illegitimate lender, it can be helpful to understand the differences between licensed and unlicensed money lenders.

For example, licensed lenders are only allowed to advertise through business or consumer directories, on their own websites or business premises. Because loan sharks are not allowed to advertise in these ways, they often resort to distributing pamphlets, SMS