Loan sharks prey on lovelorn ladies for side income

PETALING JAYA: Lovelorn ladies are becoming easy targets for Ah Long, says Datuk Seri Michael Chong (pic).

“The new borrowers I have seen lately are mostly involved in cheating cases like those love scams. The authorities have warned these ladies, but many still fall for it.

“They borrow money from loan sharks to pay for their ‘lover’,” said the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head when contacted.

On Aug 20, The Star reported that love scams are among the 10 most common scams in country and have been around for at least 15 years.

Scammers pose as eligible bachelors before duping women into parting with large amounts of money, Commercial Crime

Investigation Department acting director Comm Datuk Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said in the report.

“The syndicates know exactly how to brainwash the victim once they find an easy target.

“Such scams also operate by blackmailing female victims after they send nude photos of themselves to the fraudster,” Comm Saiful said.

In that report, Chong said 90% of such cases involved women.

Those most vulnerable were usually above the age of 40, with scammers focusing on widows, divorcees and older single women.

On a positive note, Chong said aggressive enforcement by the authorities had led to a visible reduction in the brazenness of loan shark activities.

Chong, who handled 209 loan shark cases up until August this year, said the clampdown by the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, as well as the negative views on online gambling, had contributed to a reduction in the number of people borrowing money from loan sharks.

“Loan sharks are not as brave as before and no longer do things like pasting advertisements on buildings. As a result, most borrowers today see them online,” he said. Chong added that there had been a drop in the number of people borrowing money from loan sharks during the movement control order, but pointed out that more Chinese had been borrowing money.

Last year, he said, around 70% of borrowers were Chinese but it had since increased to between 80% and 85%.

Malays, he said, had been borrowing less. “Those who borrow money from loan sharks are usually from the working class.

“Loan sharks do not simply lend money to those who can’t pay back. The working class has some means of paying back the money,” he said.

To get their money back, Chong said loan sharks would go after the borrower’s family members, adding that the loan sharks knew the personal information of the borrower’s children, grandparents and parents.

“They should just go after the borrower because some borrowers are also not good. They know how to borrow money but not how to pay it back.

“I don’t pity them. I only feel sorry for their innocent families,” he said.

Chong urged the authorities to take stern action against loan sharks who blackmail or extort family members of the borrowers.