This may be a season of good will but not so for loan sharks who are prepared to fleece the poor and the vulnerable to make as much profit as possible. Everyone wants to have a good holiday whether we have the means or not. If you have the means, you are one of the lucky few, if not, you may be one of the hard-up groups targeted by loan sharks who are offering Festive shopping vouchers but charging as much as 110 percent- yes you read it right - over one hundred per cent interest! A British company called Shopacheck has dropped a lot of leaflets promoting this spend-now-pay-later scheme. Vouchers offered are from major shops such as HMV, Iceland and H. Samuel who are jewellers.

Of course, this a great opportunity especially if one does not have all the funds to buy loved ones presents you wish to bestow on them. However, reading the fine print, reveals a startling fact: ridiculous interest rates. in fast historic. For example, if you purchase $380(?200.00)) of these vouchers you will end up paying $560(?300.00) which is over 65% interest and the longer the borrower takes to pay the higher the interest will be. In fact, some may still be paying of this loan come next Christmas.

One even forgets that voucher companies like Shopacheck buy theie goods at discount prices. Thus, not only are they making money reselling them, they are raking in even more profits with the spend-now-pay-later scheme. This is in the wake of the collapse of a well known Christmas hamper company, Farepak, just before Christmas, which left some unease in these Hamper who seem to think of themselves rather than their clients who save hard-earned money throughout the year in the hope of celebrating the Holidays in style.

Needless to say, the big brand-name shops whose vouchers are being sold in this scandalous way have sought to distance themselves. Some say Shopacheck is buying it through an agency, others deny being connected to them at all while some have offered to investigate this further. As for Shopacheck, they claim they are not doing anything against the law and that customers know exactly what's on offer as they do not hide anything.

This goes to show that, in the end the consumer is responsible, and should tread carefully when dealing with credit providers like these. Any missed payment in the future can affect your credit history. Shopacheck claim they do not chase people when they miss payment. However, no one knows which credit agency they report to. A bad credit history can mean being denied a home loan or auto loan in the future when you actually need it.

Some of the tips to avoid getting into debt during the holidays, include saving a portion of monthly income for to meet the festive and holiday season costs, using a debit card instead of a credit card for regular spending, drawing up a budget and sticking to it and most important of all, keeping your spending in concert with your income.