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Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Scammers and loan sharks target debt-ridden migrants in UK
Scammers and loan sharks are preying on migrants in Britain, exploiting their desperation to stay in the country as the government clamps down on migration, money experts say. Newly arrived asylum seekers, refugees and temporary workers, who are often unfamiliar with Britain's banking and migration systems, have been targeted with offers of fraudulent debt solutions, private loans and visa help. By the time they reach Britain, many have already accrued debt through visa or overseas recruitment fees, said Joshua Aspden, who works in refugee resettlement at Charnwood Borough Council in northern England. This leaves them in a vulnerable position, often exacerbated by financial exclusion, a distrust of authorities and language barriers. "They might not be fully literate or literate at all in their own language. Some of the people I worked with who got scammed ... didn't know how to read or write," said Aspden, an expert in personal finance issues for migrants. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) "Because ... the debt is overwhelming, they want a quick fix." Live Events Aspden, who has run finance workshops for migrants, said some migrants spend hundreds of pounds on debt management products purchased at offices on the high street, only to discover they were phoney storefronts. Others have paid thousands of pounds for bogus immigration advice, he said. "It might be one of these pop-up offices that somebody's rented for a week. And people have gone back, and the office is not there," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. FINANCIAL EXCLUSION Kate McQueen, community programmes manager at The Money Charity, also runs personal finance workshops for migrants. She said many find it difficult to navigate banking systems. "Some people are coming from countries where there may be issues with people's trust with the banks. Some countries have more informal financial systems," she said. Around 1.6% of the British population, or 900,000 people, did not have a bank account in 2024, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates financial services firms. Of those who did not have an account, a quarter said they did not want to share financial information with banks. Charities say without an accepted proof of address, identification and credit history, it is difficult for people without secure legal status, including asylum seekers and temporary workers, to open bank accounts or borrow money from regulated providers. "Once you're already in debt, it's very common ... to panic and borrow money to pay the original debt. And then, it snowballs," said McQueen. LOAN SHARKS Locked out of formal banking options, many migrants turn to people within their community for loans but are often exploited, said Catherine Wohlers from the England Illegal Money Lending Team, which investigates and prosecutes loan sharks. Around 1 million people in the UK have borrowed from a loan shark, or illegal money lender, according to a 2023 report by the Centre for Social Justice. Wohlers said many migrants have borrowed thousands of pounds to pay for groceries, bills, rent and remittances sent home. She said two Filipino women were prosecuted last year for illegally lending 4.2 million pounds ($5.68 million) to other Filipinos, mostly healthcare workers, and charging exorbitant interest. The shame of being in debt keeps migrants under the control of loan sharks, who also threaten to reveal details to the wider community and immigration officials, which migrants falsely believe could lead to deportation. "That's what keeps them paying above and beyond what they've originally borrowed," Wohlers said. IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN With the government vowing to cut net migration to Britain over the next four years, migrants are increasingly falling prey to scams, charities said. "Refugees desperate to reunite with their child or spouse also face the costs of family reunion visas, legal and travel costs, with very little assistance available," said Penny Sims, a spokesperson at the British Red Cross charity. Migrants are often sent letters or messages from scammers pretending to be from the Home Office, the ministry overseeing immigration to the UK, McQueen said. "It's so cruel, but something that's very specific to refugees and asylum seekers are fraudulent messages claiming to be from the Home Office saying, 'Good news, we're going to give you your status. You just need to pay us and go on this link,'" she said. Zahra, an Afghan immigration legal adviser in the UK, who used a pseudonym for privacy, said several of her clients have paid thousands of pounds for Afghan resettlement schemes even though applications are free. "We received emails from community members saying, 'I paid the fees, but nothing has happened with my application.' We asked them to share the email they received... and it was very clear that the scammers faked (an official) email," she said. Immigration advisor Yuliia Ismail from Settled, which supports European Union citizens and Ukrainians in Britain, said she has seen cases of Ukrainian refugees being charged by scammers for visa applications that were never submitted. Ismail, who offers free immigration advice, said charities like hers are overwhelmed by people seeking visa support. "Scammers do take advantage of how busy advice agencies are. People will want that information anyway, so they will ultimately ask someone for it," said Aspden. "Financial capability for refugees, migrants has been neglected completely. People have been cheated out of funds in many different ways and it's because they have been desperate," he said.
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Current Sick Leave Entitlements ‘Manifestly Unfair'
An Auckland business owner says it is adding a significant burden in tough economic times. Checkpoint An Auckland business owner has described current sick leave entitlements 'manifestly unfair', adding it is a significant burden in tough economic times. In 2021 minimum paid sick leave for workers went from five to 10 days regardless of how often a person works. The government has confirmed it is changing the law to a pro-rata system, or proportional leave, where sick day allowances will be different for part and full-time workers depending on how many hours or days they work. The exact detail is yet to be decided. Kathy Aspden, who owns an entertainment business told Checkpoint her sick leave costs have increased 400 percent since the allowance doubled. 'In 2019 we had people taking 64 sick days off and that was basically about. 0.9 percent of our total wage bill. In 2025, we had 278.5 sick days and that was 2.4 percent of our total wage bill. Our costs went from $10,000 to $50,000,' she said. 'We have found that since the sick leave, entitlement has increased the number of people, the actual sick leave that's being used has increased as well.' Aspden said she supports the government push to switch to a proportional system. 'We have a lot of part time staff and having a person who works for us one day a week, being entitled to 10 days sick leave every year just doesn't feel proportionate. It basically means that they can have 20 percent of the year off sick, which doesn't happen very often to be honest. But every now and then it does get abused.' Aspden's company currently has around 50 part-time workers on its books, some working over 30 hours, others just one or two days a week. She said that due to the nature of the service industry, when one worker was off, another had to be brought in to cover, contributing to the company's costs. 'All businesses are doing it really tough at the moment and especially hospitality and entertainment businesses. We've been in the business for over 30 years now and I can't remember a time when it's been so difficult for businesses,' she said. 'All of these additional costs that we're having to fund really don't help us at all.' However, she said the reason sick leave taken by staff had increased so dramatically was hard to pinpoint. 'Since Covid people are more conscious of taking time off if they are sick and we fully encourage that the last thing we want is someone sick coming into work and making the rest of our team sick.' 'At the same time, we do have some people who are abusing it and just not really treating us fairly.' Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Checkpoint yesterday she had been looking at sick leave changes alongside ongoing work to replace the Holidays Act. She did not disclose whether the changes would be based on the days or hours people were working. But said she believed someone who worked 'what we expect to be a full week', would have the full entitlement, including someone who worked 40 hours in four days. Van Velden didn't give any evidence on how much sick leave part-timers were currently taking. 'That's not the reason behind doing this change,' she said. 'It's to do with whether it's right, and is it right that someone who is working one day a week is entitled to the same sick leave allocation as someone who works five days a week – that's what we are basing this policy on, whether it's right.'
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Current Sick Leave Entitlements 'Manifestly Unfair'
An Auckland business owner has described current sick leave entitlements 'manifestly unfair', adding it is a significant burden in tough economic times. In 2021 minimum paid sick leave for workers went from five to 10 days regardless of how often a person works. The government has confirmed it is changing the law to a pro-rata system, or proportional leave, where sick day allowances will be different for part and full-time workers depending on how many hours or days they work. The exact detail is yet to be decided. Kathy Aspden, who owns an entertainment business told Checkpoint her sick leave costs have increased 400 percent since the allowance doubled. "In 2019 we had people taking 64 sick days off and that was basically about. 0.9 percent of our total wage bill. In 2025, we had 278.5 sick days and that was 2.4 percent of our total wage bill. Our costs went from $10,000 to $50,000," she said. "We have found that since the sick leave, entitlement has increased the number of people, the actual sick leave that's being used has increased as well." Aspden said she supports the government push to switch to a proportional system. "We have a lot of part time staff and having a person who works for us one day a week, being entitled to 10 days sick leave every year just doesn't feel proportionate. It basically means that they can have 20 percent of the year off sick, which doesn't happen very often to be honest. But every now and then it does get abused." Aspden's company currently has around 50 part-time workers on its books, some working over 30 hours, others just one or two days a week. She said that due to the nature of the service industry, when one worker was off, another had to be brought in to cover, contributing to the company's costs. "All businesses are doing it really tough at the moment and especially hospitality and entertainment businesses. We've been in the business for over 30 years now and I can't remember a time when it's been so difficult for businesses," she said. "All of these additional costs that we're having to fund really don't help us at all." However, she said the reason sick leave taken by staff had increased so dramatically was hard to pinpoint. "Since Covid people are more conscious of taking time off if they are sick and we fully encourage that the last thing we want is someone sick coming into work and making the rest of our team sick." "At the same time, we do have some people who are abusing it and just not really treating us fairly." Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Checkpoint yesterday she had been looking at sick leave changes alongside ongoing work to replace the Holidays Act. She did not disclose whether the changes would be based on the days or hours people were working. But said she believed someone who worked "what we expect to be a full week", would have the full entitlement, including someone who worked 40 hours in four days. Van Velden didn't give any evidence on how much sick leave part-timers were currently taking. "That's not the reason behind doing this change," she said. "It's to do with whether it's right, and is it right that someone who is working one day a week is entitled to the same sick leave allocation as someone who works five days a week - that's what we are basing this policy on, whether it's right."
Otago Daily Times
17-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Sick leave entitlements 'manifestly unfair': business owner
An Auckland business owner has described current sick leave entitlements "manifestly unfair", adding it is a significant burden in tough economic times. In 2021 minimum paid sick leave for workers went from five to 10 days regardless of how often a person works. The government has confirmed it is changing the law to a pro-rata system, or proportional leave, where sick day allowances will be different for part and full-time workers depending on how many hours or days they work. The exact detail is yet to be decided. Kathy Aspden, who owns an entertainment business said her sick leave costs have increased 400% since the allowance doubled. "In 2019 we had people taking 64 sick days off and that was basically about. 0.9% of our total wage bill. In 2025, we had 278.5 sick days and that was 2.4% of our total wage bill. Our costs went from $10,000 to $50,000," she said. "We have found that since the sick leave, entitlement has increased the number of people, the actual sick leave that's being used has increased as well." Aspden said she supports the government push to switch to a proportional system. "We have a lot of part time staff and having a person who works for us one day a week, being entitled to 10 days sick leave every year just doesn't feel proportionate. It basically means that they can have 20% of the year off sick, which doesn't happen very often to be honest. But every now and then it does get abused." Aspden's company currently has around 50 part-time workers on its books, some working over 30 hours, others just one or two days a week. She said that due to the nature of the service industry, when one worker was off, another had to be brought in to cover, contributing to the company's costs. "All businesses are doing it really tough at the moment and especially hospitality and entertainment businesses. We've been in the business for over 30 years now and I can't remember a time when it's been so difficult for businesses," she said. "All of these additional costs that we're having to fund really don't help us at all." However, she said the reason sick leave taken by staff had increased so dramatically was hard to pinpoint. "Since Covid people are more conscious of taking time off if they are sick and we fully encourage that the last thing we want is someone sick coming into work and making the rest of our team sick." "At the same time, we do have some people who are abusing it and just not really treating us fairly." Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said yesterday she had been looking at sick leave changes alongside ongoing work to replace the Holidays Act. She did not disclose whether the changes would be based on the days or hours people were working. But said she believed someone who worked "what we expect to be a full week", would have the full entitlement, including someone who worked 40 hours in four days. Van Velden didn't give any evidence on how much sick leave part-timers were currently taking. "That's not the reason behind doing this change," she said. "It's to do with whether it's right, and is it right that someone who is working one day a week is entitled to the same sick leave allocation as someone who works five days a week - that's what we are basing this policy on, whether it's right."
