The Laid-off Ripped off in Money-lending Business

As an increasing number of those who were laid off during the economic crisis have launched a small-scale money-lending business, they have become a target of swindlers.

These new comers in the business generally begin their business with small amount of money. Thus being ripped off means bankruptcy. These novices are no heinous loan sharks, who demand that debtors give up their body when they failed to pay back the money.

▽ Examples of victims

Han Hee-geun, 38, who launched his own money-lending business after he quit his job at a big corporation, has recently been in agony.

In the mid April, 20 women in their forties and fifties borrowed money from him ranging from two million to five million won each showing a contract of house rent to him. At that time he did not even imagine that was a beginning of a nightmare.

After receiving first interests, he did not hear from the debtors. He visited the address the debtors left, but the address was a fake. He only found five to six other moneylenders, who were in the same position as he was.

Han went broke after getting robbed of 30 million won in retirement pay and 100 million won he borrowed from his friend.

Former engineer Kim Man-hee, 40, began money-lending business with 60 million won in April, but he was conned of 45 million won by twelve middle-aged women.

Jeon Cheon-hun, 29, got into the business with 40 million won including his retirement allowance in April, but he could not avoid the misfortune. Ten middle-aged women swindled him of 30 million won and made him a credit delinquent.

Han said, "I know more than 20 people who got robbed. A man committed suicide after he ran up huge debts."

▽ Stay away from middle-aged women!

Most of these swindlers are women aged 40 to 60. They manipulate contract of house rent without knowledge of house owners with their eye on novices like Han, who run advertisement in local newspapers.

They emphasize their ability to pay back the money by producing receipts of property tax. If a moneylender tries to confirm what they say, they block the confirmation process by scorning at his being narrow-minded.

If one person becomes known to be a beginner, dozens of middle-aged female swindlers come and rip him off only in a few days. Victims say that there are more than 50 such swindlers.

▽ No countermeasure provided

Han complained that these swindlers make bad use of the fact that beginners are not good at taking back money. I sued the swindlers, but the likeliness that I take back my money is slim."

Moneylenders say that even if swindlers get caught, they are not likely to be kept in custody because the amount of money they ripped is small. And they are, at best, fined as much as the amount of money they borrow, letting such swindling spread further.

Kim said, "My family teeters on the verge of collapse since I have failed to provide money for living not to mention school expenses for my two children."

Dong-Yong Min mindy@donga.com