A loan shark who demands 50 per cent interest on payments has claimed he's an 'emergency service' for families and has used violence to get money back - as figures show 3.3million Brits used illegal lenders in last three years.
The lender - who demands 50 per cent interest on the money he doles out - said that all of his victims have paid up in a chilling interview as he admitted to making 'physical contact' those who haven't been able to do so immediately.
It comes amid a spike in the criminal activity - with a third of Brits are said to have used one to pay their bills.
'The people that I lend money to, they can't go through the normal route,' an active loan shark, disguised in a face-scarf and tinted sunglasses, told Good Morning Britain.
'So you borrow £1,000 off me, you pay back £1,500. I think of myself almost like an emergency service. People come to me when they're desperate.'
The lender (pictured) - who demands 50 per cent interest on the money he doles out - said that all of his victims have paid up in a chilling interview
Bank of Dave hero Dave Fishwick (pictured), who had interviewed the loan shark, slammed the man as 'just wrong'
He continued: 'I don't get up in the morning and think today I'm going to do this, I might get caught.
'I get up in the morning and think I've got to go to work - same as you.'
The shark explained that he loans money at 50 per cent interest - with anyone who does not pay back in time being charged an extra 20 per cent on the amount that is late.
Lounging back in his chair in a dark jacket, gloves, hat and trousers, he said that the most he has ever given out is £100,000, for which he received £150,000 after six months.
The predatory lender added that he makes sure his money will be repaid - such as by taking the log book of his victim's car.
And if the payment is late he first explains to them they must pay, before knocking on their door and telling them: 'We're not messing about. This is what's going to happen if you don't get this money paid.'
He said that the only times he has ever written a loan off are on two occasions where people have died - and he chose not to chase their family members.
Asked what worst thing he'd done to someone who hasn't paid, the shark added after a long pause: 'They've always paid. In the end they've always paid.
Lounging back in his chair in a dark jacket, gloves, hat and trousers, he said that the most he has ever given out is £100,000, for which he received £150,000 after six months
The shark explained that he loans money at 50 per cent interest - with anyone who does not pay back in time being charged an extra 20 per cent on the amount that is late
'We've had to make physical contact with people, put it that way.'
Nearly half of victims thought the predatory lenders were friends when they first borrowed money according to figures from The Illegal Money Lending Team's Survey of Victims in 2023.
But shocking accounts show that this can quickly turn, with violence and threats a common resort if the cash is not immediately paid back.
And with the number of people getting funds from the sinister figures online doubling in the last year, the government has spent a stunning £7million in the last year investigating and prosecuting the rogue bail-outs amid the cost of living crisis.
One victim now has to wear a bullet proof vest after he borrowed £10,000 to cover his mortgage and ended up £50,000 in debt.
'I can't go out without it because I've been threatened so many times,' he told Good Morning Britain.
'When you go to them they're your best friends. But once I owed them but once I owed them that money they turned on me like dogs.
'I had threats upon threats upon threats. I've had petrol tipped through the door. I've had bullets posted through the door.'
The predatory lender added that he makes sure his money will be repaid - such as by taking the log book of his victim's car
Burnley-born entrepreneur Dave - who inspired the hit Netflix movie - shot to prominence for lending not only money but hands-on advice to hard-up businesses while giving all his profits to charity
Bank of Dave hero Dave Fishwick, who had interviewed the loan shark, slammed the man as 'just wrong'.
The Burnley-born entrepreneur - who inspired the hit Netflix movie - shot to prominence for lending not only money but hands-on advice to hard-up businesses while giving all his profits to charity.
He said: 'They have absolutely no interest in your better needs. He hurts people. He hurts people - he even said that.
'He said: 'You don't want me turning up at your door a third time.'
'He said: 'If I turn up at your door for a third time it's going to hurt.' And that is just wrong.
'I said to him, would you ever write a loan off? And he said: 'I never write a loan off. Only when people die.''
