Employer repatriates maid after loan shark terrorises her family over S$500 debt

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean employer has cancelled her domestic helper’s work pass and sent her home after discovering that the helper had secretly borrowed from a loan shark.

In a post shared on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Wednesday (Dec 10), the employer recounted that her helper had taken a S$500 loan without informing the family, only to find herself trapped when the amount allegedly ballooned to S$2,000. 

According to the employer, the helper had repaid the principal sum, but the illegal moneylender continued to impose escalating fees and demands that she could no longer afford.

The employer said the harassment quickly spiralled beyond the helper herself. When the helper failed to pay up, the loan shark allegedly targeted her elderly mother’s phone number, bombarding her with over “30 spam calls and messages a day.”

The loan shark also reportedly “hung a bag of food” outside their gate and sent a photo of it to their maid, warning her that they “knew where she lives.”

Fearing for her family’s safety, the employer made a police report and arranged an immediate flight home for the helper and cancelled her work pass. 

“We are in the process of changing phone numbers and installing a camera as a deterrent,” she added. “The agency and police both said this is increasingly common nowadays. So for those with maids, please just keep an eye out for these situations.”

“Ignore the calls and block if possible.”

The Reddit post quickly drew responses from other Singaporeans who shared similar encounters with unlicensed moneylenders preying on foreign domestic workers.

One user wrote that his father’s friend had endured persistent threats from a loan shark after his helper defaulted on a loan.

“The loanshark kept calling, kept harassing, he was not someone to be messed with, do note, but that was his last straw.”

“He actually asked the loan shark to use his brain,  ‘You think I’ll be so stupid as to pay someone’s debt? You want money, you go find from the person who borrowed from you. Who asked you to be so stupid as to lend money to a maid? You keep barking at me, no use, you want you come. Radio silence ever since. Sometimes the softer you are, the more guts they have.”

Another chimed in, writing that ignoring their threats sometimes works too. “I had the same issue last year. Ignore the calls and block if possible (on WhatsApp, you can block calls from unknown numbers). Ask the maid to do the same. If the amount is small, they won’t bother much if you ignore it for a few days.”

Meanwhile, a third advised others not to be complacent and to take action immediately.

They encouraged employers to promptly make a police report, and to report whatever account number the loanshark uses “as a scam/fraud proceeds account” to get it banned.

 “These scum basically just want to threaten you, but they know it’s not worth it to follow through,” the user added.

MOM warns: FDWs are prohibited from borrowing from loan sharks

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are strictly forbidden from borrowing from unlicensed moneylenders. Violations may result in a permanent ban from future employment in Singapore.

MOM also clarifies that employers are not responsible for their helper’s debts. Anyone experiencing harassment from either licensed or unlicensed moneylenders is urged to report it to the police at 999 or contact the X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664.

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