HK mobile phone store raided for alleged money lending offences

[Beanieskis]

Lots of posts on social media about a mobile phone store in Central that has a lots of customers from the domestic helper community being raided by police yesterday. Appears to be the outcome of reports in this SCMP story from a few months ago.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...mestic-helpers

[Ellenna]

Paywall... care to share the article contents?

[Beanieskis]

Hong Kong resident Sarah Jackson* woke up to a series of threatening messages from a debt collector who demanded about HK$3,000 (US$410) to repay a loan her helper was said to have taken out with a phone store.

The sender, who claimed to have Jackson’s personal information, said in one message: “We will not stop reaching your number … we will conduct a field visit if no payment [is] made.”

https://archive.is/L4yhq

[shri]

Updated:

Hong Kong police have arrested 46 people and cracked down on a syndicate suspected of illegally lending at least HK$39 million to 6,500 domestic helpers.

The force said on Tuesday the syndicate mainly lured domestic helpers into high-interest loans, charging simple annual interest at a rate of 100 per cent.

Officers made the arrests four months after the Post reported a mobile phone chain was offering loans to helpers as “cash vouchers” and operating an illegal money lending business.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...mestic-helpers

https://archive.is/AkeJT

[lokbing]

On the first day we hired our helper, we talked about her finances and warned her of the dangers of borrowing money from certain types of lenders. And that if she needed to borrow we would rather that she borrowed from us (repaying only what she borrowed).

We have a very open communication with our helper about her finances and we are more than happy to help which we have done many times. She always keep us updated on her projects such as farming and house build.

Maybe if there was better communication between employer and helper then perhaps these illegal lenders have less people to prey on?

[Cheeky Kiwi]

not every employer is like you
many treat their helper like slaves
which is why many find it difficult to leave HK/SG or have fond memories after leaving

[Beanieskis]

On the first day we hired our helper, we talked about her finances and warned her of the dangers of borrowing money from certain types of lenders. And that if she needed to borrow we would rather that she borrowed from us (repaying only what she borrowed).

We have a very open communication with our helper about her finances and we are more than happy to help which we have done many times. She always keep us updated on her projects such as farming and house build.

Maybe if there was better communication between employer and helper then perhaps these illegal lenders have less people to prey on?

I don't think that's exactly fair. I'll put my hand up here and say I'm "Sarah Jackson" quoted in the article. We're open with our helpers and have lent them large sums of money interest free for house purchases etc, and they repay us back through their pay each month (no more than they are allowed to repay by law). However they really do live hand to mouth, and there are constant calls from relatives in the Philippines wanting money for x, y and z. Plus, sadly, the younger ones seem to fall for the instant gratification with consumer goods now, worry about how you're going to pay for it later. My helper who fell foul of the mobile phone shop scam did actually go in to buy a phone - but the phone was purchased on a payment plan along with cashback. She had no idea it was a loan with a >100% rate of interest.

Anyway, she did come to me for help when she got out of her depth with it. The scammers then started bombarding me with messages too, trying to tell us we should threaten to terminate her contract etc. I gave back as good as I got, ha ha. It was very clearly an illegal money lending scam and I reported it to the police. Also went with my helper to make a report about harassment, and I told her and them not to repay a penny more (she'd already paid back more than she had actually "borrowed"). I subsequently sent my helper on one of those money management courses with an NGO to help her recognise scams.

I'm glad these sharks have got their comeuppance.

[lokbing]

I don't think that's exactly fair. I'll put my hand up here and say I'm "Sarah Jackson" quoted in the article. We're open with our helpers and have lent them large sums of money interest free for house purchases etc, and they repay us back through their pay each month (no more than they are allowed to repay by law). However they really do live hand to mouth, and there are constant calls from relatives in the Philippines wanting money for x, y and z. Plus, sadly, the younger ones seem to fall for the instant gratification with consumer goods now, worry about how you're going to pay for it later. My helper who fell foul of the mobile phone shop scam did actually go in to buy a phone - but the phone was purchased on a payment plan along with cashback. She had no idea it was a loan with a >100% rate of interest.

Anyway, she did come to me for help when she got out of her depth with it. The scammers then started bombarding me with messages too, trying to tell us we should threaten to terminate her contract etc. I gave back as good as I got, ha ha. It was very clearly an illegal money lending scam and I reported it to the police. Also went with my helper to make a report about harassment, and I told her and them not to repay a penny more (she'd already paid back more than she had actually "borrowed"). I subsequently sent my helper on one of those money management courses with an NGO to help her recognise scams.

I'm glad these sharks have got their comeuppance.

Totally agree with you on the financial pressures they face just from relatives alone never mind loan sharks.

The money management course is a good idea, it’s not something I was aware of. Don’t see such a course being promoted towards helpers considering the numbers involved in this case.

[lokbing]

not every employer is like you
many treat their helper like slaves
which is why many find it difficult to leave HK/SG or have fond memories after leaving

it’s just unfortunate this sort of stuff happens.

[Beanieskis]

Totally agree with you on the financial pressures they face just from relatives alone never mind loan sharks.

The money management course is a good idea, it’s not something I was aware of. Don’t see such a course being promoted towards helpers considering the numbers involved in this case.

There are multiple NGOs running these type of programmes. My helper did one of the Enrich ones:

https://enrichhk.org/our-programmes
https://uplifters-edu.org/our-programmes/

I believe the YMCA also run similar courses.

These should be essential for all helpers coming to work in HK for the first time.