Report or check Illegal money lending (loan sharks)

Loan sharks and illegal money lenders

A loan shark is someone who lends money as a business to two or more people without the correct permissions. It is a criminal offence to lend money without the correct permissions.

Report a loan shark

You can report a loan shark 24 hours a day, seven days a week by:

• visiting the stop loan sharks website
• telephone: 0300 555 2222
• email: reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk
• text: loan(space)shark(space) + your message to 60003

Check if a lender is registered

You can look for companies and individuals authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by searching the the Financial Services Register

Email: consumer.queries@fca.org.uk
Telephone: 0800 111 6768