Loan shark facts for kids

A shop window in Falls Church, Virginia, United States. Loan sharking may refer to both legal and illegal activities.

A loan shark is a person that sells loans with very high interest rates. People go to loan sharks for many reasons. It is often because no one else will lend them money. Loan sharks tend to ask for something beforehand, like someone's passport.

Loan sharks are called 'loan sharks' because they are like sharks; aggressive, angry, and greedy. As loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably expect to be able to use the legal system to collect debts, they often resort to enforcing repayment by terms of blackmail and threats of violence.

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