Loansharks now forcing people to take loans.

A woman says loansharks are forcing her to take a loan from them.

Ms Lin, 40, a former air stewardess, was contacted by a loanshark last Tuesday afternoon, asking if she wants to borrow money.

"I told him I don't need any money. The loanshark called me again at night and said that he had accidentally transferred $490 to my bank account."

I checked and found $488 deposited into my account. The "interest" has apparently already been deducted from the sum.

"I called the loanshark back immediately to tell him I'll return the money to him," said Ms Lin.

But the loanshark refused to let Ms Lin return the money and insisted that she must "borrow" it.

She is supposed to return $200 to the loansharks each week, over three weeks.

This way, she would have paid up a total of $600, with the loansharks earning an interest of $112 from the "forced loan".

Ms Lin was so angry that she made a police report on the same night the loan was forced on her.

But because Ms Lin refused to do as the loansharks instructed, the men began to call and harass her.

"They call to intimidate me every day. They tell me if I won't pay them the money, they will harass me at my home. I was very worried so I made another police report," said Ms Lin.

Ms Lin believes that the loansharks are targeting her because her previous loans were paid on time.