A
loan shark is a person or body who offers loans at
extremely high interest rates. The term usually refers to illegal activity, but may also refer to
predatory lending with extremely high interest rates such as
payday or
title loans. Loan sharks sometimes enforce repayment by
blackmail or threats of violence. Historically, many
moneylenders skirted between legal and extra-legal activity. In the recent western world, loan sharks have been a feature of the
criminal underworld.