Cambodian women become targets of online loan sharks who demand nude photos as collateral
- Hardship from the pandemic has expanded the client pool for online loan sharks who charge illegal interest rates of up to 80 per cent a month
- Victims are often too embarrassed to make police reports and can provide little, if any, evidence to NGOs when lodging reports
Online loan sharks are targeting Cambodian women desperate to keep their businesses afloat and families fed, victims say, charging illegal interest rates of up to 80 per cent a month to borrow a few hundred dollars – and then demanding nude images as collateral.
Drowning in debt and with her restaurant closed, the 37-year-old was pulled in by a Facebook ad by ‘Loanly Internet’, which offered her US$50 as a first-time client in a time of crisis.
“But I needed much more, so the loan shark allowed me to borrow US$1,000 if I provided nude pictures and a nude video, which they put in their system,” she said, giving one name to protect her identity. “I didn’t want to do it, I felt embarrassed, but I didn’t have a choice.”
It was a decision made under extreme financial duress that still haunts her months later.
From Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta to Ho Chi Minh City, many Southeast Asian households are battling a severe debt crisis ignited by the shock of the pandemic, but exacerbated by surging global inflation that has driven up prices of everything from eggs and noodles to petrol.
