Reporting a loan shark does two things: it protects you by creating an official record, and it feeds the pattern-matching that lets regulators and police shut illegal lenders down. You do not need a lawyer, you can report to several agencies at once, and in most cases you can start anonymously. Here is how.
First, gather what you have
Reports go further with specifics. Useful details include the lender’s name or alias, phone numbers and usernames, where and how you were approached, the amount borrowed, what you have paid, how payments are collected, and any messages or recordings. Do not worry if you are missing pieces. A partial report is still valuable.
Where to report
Your state attorney general
Every state attorney general has a consumer protection division that takes complaints about illegal lending, usually through a simple online form. This is the single most useful report for a lender operating in your state.
Your state financial regulator
The agency that licenses lenders in your state investigates unlicensed lending directly. Find yours through the Conference of State Bank Supervisors directory, and check any lender’s license at NMLS Consumer Access. Our state resources page collects these lookups plus legal aid directories in one place.
Federal consumer agencies
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov for the Federal Trade Commission.
- CFPB complaint form for lending and collection abuses.
Police and the FBI
If there are threats, violence, or organized crime involvement, report to local police and to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. For lending done through websites, apps, or social media, add a report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. If you are being threatened right now, read what to do if a loan shark threatens you first.
Common worries, answered
Will I get in trouble for having borrowed?
No. The laws involved regulate lenders, not borrowers, as explained in are loan sharks illegal? Agencies want your information, not your prosecution.
Can I report anonymously?
FBI tips and FTC reports can be made without identifying yourself, and attorney general forms in many states allow it. Named reports carry more investigative weight, but an anonymous report beats no report.
Will the lender find out it was me?
Consumer complaints are not forwarded to the person you are reporting in the way a lawsuit would be. If your situation involves specific safety risks, say so in the report, and raise it with police when you file.
What happens after I report?
You may not hear back quickly, and a single report rarely produces visible action on its own. What it does is join other reports about the same lender, and patterns are what trigger investigations. Your report also timestamps your side of the story, which protects you if the lender escalates.
While the report does its work
Reporting does not by itself resolve the debt. For that, work through how to get out of loan shark debt and the free help on our debt resources page.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed August 2026.