The issue of illegal private financing is quite serious. Are even teenagers and soldiers, who lack the ability to repay, falling into these traps?
Recently, on social media, it is not difficult to find illegal private-finance advertisements featuring phrases like loans available for those born in 2010 or available for soldiers.
When we actually consulted them, one lender demanded that if you borrow 200,000 won, you must pay back 400,000 won a week later, while another demanded 1.8 million won just in interest while lending 2 million won to a soldier.
This far exceeds the maximum interest rate permitted under current law.
Instead of just lending money, they demand contact information of family members or acquaintances and even workplace details. If repayment is delayed, it often leads to illegal collection practices, such as sending threatening text messages to people around the borrower.
Online illegal private-finance advertisements detected by the Korea Credit Financial Association reached approximately 7,800 cases, a 48% increase compared to the previous year, with the vast majority distributed through social media.
Experts advised that since personal information can be abused for illegal debt collection, people should never respond to such offers, but instead capture screenshots of the advertisements and chat records and report them to financial authorities.
(Source: Online Community, Yonhap News)
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